A Teen Who Desired Disrememberance
by 3blendee
Summary: A boy wakes up to find himself in a familiar world, yet completely sealed from Earth. With almost no change except for his voice and information that no one else should know, he traverses a land once thought to be fiction. As he slowly diverts from such fictitious thoughts, he thinks about that choice...A choice made from the youkai who very well could've been his killer.
1. Chapter 1

_I don't think being forgotten is a bad thing._

 _You have no more debts._

 _People won't have to care about you, and you won't have to worry about that._

 _Being forgotten means I can be free. At least, a little bit freer._

 _Wait, that car just sped through a red light._

 _WE'RE GOING-_

…

Blink.

Where am I?

I look around. I specifically recall…

The car!

"Oh my God, I'm dead...Wait...What?" I stated, panicked. I began quickly glancing around the area, expecting remnants of an car accident. Wait. This didn't look like death to me. It looked like a very weird forest.

I looked around, mostly at myself first. T-shirt, jeans, socks, shoes. I felt at my head. The familiar feeling of hair was there. I looked down to see grass blowing with the breeze.

"Okay…What just happened?" I asked myself, astonished. I remember being in our family's Toyota Tundra truck, on an interstate on a trip home from Texas. We were on the exit, and a passing car ran a red light. The next thing I know, I could hear the deafening sound of brakes screeching against the road, then a collision of two hunks of metal, and…

"I'm here, now," I blankly stated. "But...Where?"

I then realized a weird feeling. I was speaking differently. It didn't feel right. "I am Alan. I am a boy," I tested out.

Am I speaking a different language?

"Shouldn't I be speaking English? Or Vietnamese? What am- Hm." I said a few words to see if I really was speaking something different. "I. Wait. Stop. Thank you. I'm speaking Japanese," I realize, seeming to have a familiarity with some of the words. I was extremely surprised by this. Should I be happy about this?

Maybe it's like a native language kind of thing, where it just feels like speaking English, when really it's speaking five other languages.

"Does this come with...Uh...Whatever happened to me?" I asked again to myself. I instead ignore the change in voice, and look around. The forest was definitely strange and unfamiliar. The trees looked very different from the ones I used to see back home, and there was a very strange distortion to it. As if...It was giving the illusion that it was never-ending and ominous. There were vast amounts of flowers and fungi around, but each one looked stranger than the next. None of them brought any memories to me. Even plain white ones looked somewhat foreign.

"Is that my mind playing games, or is that magic?" The forest suddenly seemed much terrifying to me. I checked in my pockets for anything of familiarity. Nothing. Except lint.

I looked up to the sky. Blue skies, orange sun. _Hey, now, don't blind yourself._ I thought to myself. I took a closer look up at the sky. There were strange colors. Various patterns of a brighter blue, yellow, green, and red strobed in the blue horizon. Many of them seemed to be getting closer.

"What is that…?" I wondered out loud. I then immediately stumbled back, watching as the colors flew much closer, appearing as a sort of yellow star, which clashed harmlessly onto the ground..

"W...What?" I said again, before suddenly jumping into cover behind a larger set of trees. More stars of similar color and size clashed with the ground, and hit the tops of the trees as well.

"Are they bullets?" I wondered again, somewhat panicked. My heart was beginning to beat faster now. I looked up through the gaps the trees' leaves left. More and more colors was filling the blue sky.

"That can't be…" I halfheartedly stated.

"That's danmaku…"

But how? I should've been on Earth, in America, casually complaining about how the end of school should be coming sooner until the last day!

And here I am, in a forest, watching magical barrages of bullets shaped like stars hit the ground like artillery. Well, not really artillery, since they're unintentional bullets that went astray.

I'm fairly sure two people are dueling it out, using this...danmaku style. Maybe I am still on Earth…

"Is this...Gensokyo?" I wondered out loud. It was a reminder of a game I used to play. It connected and it was a possibility. If I died, or at least I was about to die, maybe someone decided it was a good idea not to let that happen. The forest with the strange distortion, and the stranger flowers, what if it was the same forest? The Forest of Magic?

I needed to dig deeper for confirmation, and to do that, I needed to find a way out, or rather, a way to get even more lost, one would say.

I looked around, careful not to step on any strange flowers or mushrooms, and began traversing carefully through the trees.

 _I need to think this through carefully._ I began planning in my head.

 _If this is really Gensokyo, then the first thing I need to do is find a friendly. This...place isn't exactly the most human-friendly out there. No thanks to its creator. The one time I wanted to wake up in a world that I would like to live in, I end up getting mostly the opposite. I have no power here, I'm a human just like any other regular human, and I'll end up getting massacred or eaten by some powerful, or even weaker youkai, like Rumia. I needed to get somewhere safe. Well, if this was like the game I used to play, there should be a shrine. Not near here, but here either way._

I inwardly groaned as I traversed through the forest. It's a good thing I wasn't that hungry or thirsty, so it wasn't like I was a homeless bum. Though, that'll come up real soon, the way I'm going. I needed to stay calm, and plan ahead. The Forest of Magic had at least two inhabitants, and there were...friendly, I think. I just needed to find one of their "members". It looks like I found one as well.

I spot a nearby presence, what appeared to be a doll. It was hovering around, looking as if it was patrolling the area. I decide to approach it, slowly at first.

The doll seems to react in a way that notes my presence, so I…

How do I talk to a doll?

"Uhm...Hi," I tried out. The doll inspected me, moving in different places around me as if to judge me. It then took out a marker, and began writing on the ground.

 _Oh...Crap. Hiragana. There's no way I can...Uh…?_

 _Wait, I can read all of this? ...Lucky me. Resurrection doesn't seem like a bad thing now. It's so weird, it's like reading a regular book in English._

"Who...are...you…" I slowly read out quietly to myself as the doll wrote. The doll looked up at me, the marker also pointed in the same direction.

"Well, I'm just a guy who's lost, so I was hoping for a lead out." May as well keep it simple. I needed to find a friendly person, and I knew at least two people who would provide that role. Find them, and my goal slightly comes closer. I quickly looked down, noting the doll already writing.

"Stay at...You want me to stay at your house?" I realized that perhaps the puppeteer was making an offer. The doll nodded, confirming my thoughts. "I see no problem with it, but I still need a way to get to the shrine." The doll nodded once more, before the marker disappeared, taking me by surprise.

 _Oh, magic is such a wonderful thing. Disturbing laws of physics must be fun._

The doll began flying, gesturing at me to follow it. I had to admit, for a puppet that looked like a tiny plush toy, its movements sure were humanlike. I continued following it with haste.

After a few minutes of what felt like power-walking in a straight line, there I saw it. A hut. It was a fairly big hut, but something about it seemed to throw me off. Then I noticed. Carvings and engravings rested on the roof of the cottage, which formed a visible array of colors around it. Barriers, I assumed. Surprisingly, it was very European-esque. Clean, smooth, and nothing staining the house. Perhaps it was just the use of magic, or just really thorough cleaning.

Is it natural that I'm human and can see this? The doll gestured toward me to continued following. I must've stood there, petrified by this magical shield I was just staring at.

Oh wait, it might be a bad thing if the puppeteer knows I can see it. I quickly followed the doll, which moved to the front door. I noticed there was a table outside, which chairs set upside down on top of it. _I wonder if this is where they both hang out and drink tea. Though, from all I've seen, it seems more like_ _**she**_ _would just explode through the door._

The doll gestured to the door. "Uhm…Hello?" I said to the door, knocking on it after. The door looked fairly new to me. After a few seconds, the door swung open, revealing the great puppeteer herself. The doll quickly flew by me and hovered over the new stranger's shoulder.

Alice Margatroid. She wore a pink-white dress over a blue apron. Her skin was pale, and had blonde hair which had a matching headband and ribbon. She held a black book wrapped with a pink ribbon, and she was also wearing black boots. Her blue eyes complimented her apparel, and her appearance overall reminded me of a doll. I noticed that I was taller than her by about half a head. She looked fairly human to me, but I was a bit surprised noticing how realistic she was.

"Hello," I heard her politely say. _That is so weird, hearing her voice._ She had a soft smile on her face as well, which is something I wasn't expecting. Maybe she was used to welcoming lost visitors. She had this voice that sounds like she's only in her late teens, but she speaks as if she's older, like an adult. _As expected from a youkai._

"Uhh, hello, miss," I replied, somewhat awkwardly. "Can I just come in?"

"I think that's the idea of inviting you to my house, yes," Alice replied jokingly, gesturing me inside. _I am not going to get used to these characters talking._ I walked inside, avoiding banging my head against the ceiling of the door, wondering how I managed to live this long without dying by stepping on a random pile of mushrooms.

The house itself wasn't small, but compared to back home with my family, it was like looking only at a large living room. There were several bookshelves, but there was a kitchen in one corner, and another room that looked small enough to fit a bathroom. There was a closet which likely held most of her clothes, and some drawers and cabinets. There was a single table, likely only for being set for dinner, and it was fairly decorated with various arrays of dolls.

There were several windows I saw, and I noticed an upstairs, a sort of tower connected with the cottage.

The dolls all looked like plush versions of Touhou characters, though several of them shared the same appearance as the one I was looking out. It looked like Alice, but wearing a black apron, and having long blonde hair, with a red ribbon. Its eyes were simply two dots. It was cute, when there weren't about twenty different dolls gazing into your soul.

"Would you like some sandwiches while you rest?" I heard her ask from my right. I blinked. _Right, I'm in her house. I shouldn't be rude._

"Sure, thank you." Alice nodded in reply, and moved to the kitchen. It was a fairly small kitchen, but it seemed enough for a one-man home. _Well, Gensokyo is behind on technology, but not that far behind._

Only the windows provided light, but it seemed to illuminate the room enough. There was an unlit fireplace nearby a corner, and multiple couches sat around the room, pointed in a singular table. There were several pieces of furniture that seemed to accommodate much of the empty space. Flowers, books, bookshelves, and many pictures framed onto the wall were about the majority of what I noticed. I took my mind away from the aesthetics and I sat down on the nearest chair, watching as various dolls began moving around, setting the table with a large patterned cloth, and then fine china for tea, and finally plastic plates for sandwiches. I assumed it was just budget.

I looked at the sandwiches that Alice set on a separate plate. Sliced in triangles, with the crust perfectly gone. Salad, what looked like bologna, and maybe tomatoes. I hoped mayonnaise existed in Gensokyo.

I tried a sandwich while one of the dolls poured my teacup with a steaming kettle. _Wow, this is really good._

"This sandwich is delicious, thank you," I complimented.

"Thank you for the compliment, but...I imagine you're not from around here, correct?" Alice politely asked.

"That's true," I said, swallowing my food. "I'm from, uh...Not here. Earth?"

"Well, this place is still on 'Earth', so I would say you're from the Outside World." _The clothes. Welp._

"Alright...So I'm an Outsider."

"Which is somewhat of a strange discovery," Alice replied, sipping her tea. She glanced at me, and then toward my cup. "It's creamy black tea with coconut. I think you should try it."

"It has a nice smell," I commented, looking into the cup. I blew into the cup for several moments, before softly sipping it. _GAHH- BLOWING IT DOES NOT HELP!_ I manage to force the liquid in without looking like I was having a seizure. It was pretty good, and I ignored getting my tongue melted.

"It's good, though I think this would go good with almond milk." Alice responded with a nod of acknowledgement, rubbing her chin.

"I'll take note of that," She commented simply. "So, continuing, it's actually a peculiar discovery. Usually people are not transported here out of all places."

"It seems like the last place people would want to be...transported," I commented, in a somewhat scared tone. I wasn't looking forward to being in a forest that literally went out of its way to distort itself so I couldn't get out.

Alice didn't notice, and only replied, "I do hope the gap youkai is not up to her tricks again…You just suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the Forest."

"Wait, how did you know I woke up here?"

"I already had caught sight of you when you woke up, I simply waited for you to catch one of my dolls."

 _Careful eye. Guess it's needed for finding lost people like me._

"I guess the first thing I should do is lead you to somewhere that's safer. You're surprisingly accustomed to this."

I sighed. "I'm terrified, actually. The forest looks like it lasts on forever, and I'm taken to a world completely different from mine."

"Hey, at least you're still in the same world. I'll lead you to the shrine, and I think you'll be given a better explanation. You're only human, so anything in the forest could potentially do you harm."

"Thanks. I think I should know your name first. I'm Alan Vu." _Man, my name makes me sound like an old person. Gensokyo's going to mutilate my name._

"Alice Margatroid. Pleased to meet you, Vu." _Oh right. Customs. Should uh...I guess refer to her by her last name._

"Same for you, Miss Margatroid. Should we go now?" Alice looked through a nearby window. I forgot this hut even had windows.

"Yes, let's go now. I think my friend is busy at the moment, but by the time I take you to the shrine, they'll likely be done."

 _Must be_ **them** _dueling it over for fun._

"Alright."

* * *

have fun.


	2. Chapter 2

_So I really am in a game, or something similar to it. Or maybe Gensokyo truly does exist in Earth. Either way, I'm in it, and I'm not sure if I should like that. That means these kinds of youkai exist, these humans exist, and they really are escapees from the "faithless" and "fearless" people of the...Uh...Earth. ...And I get to be in full view of that._

I got to see the process of Alice's preparation, and I was impressed with her speed _._ I'm unsure how to explain the process myself, but all of her dolls seemed to be moving in separate directions, each preparing each other weapons and other tools. In mere moments, her dolls were each equipped with their own lancers, swords and shields. They overlooked her like guardians. Here I am, with no grand ability or power of my own, standing agape to the transition.

Being human must suck when they can't harness magic.

 _Wait, this is Alice! She was originally human, and then became youkai magician, right? I could ask her!_

I looked at Alice, the back of her head facing me.

 _No, we're not friends, she likely wouldn't tell me._

"So...All this stuff, and all those bullets up in the sky...Is that magic?" I attempt to converse.

"Yes, it is," Alice replied, not looking behind her. "If you don't know, it's how we resolve conflicts. It's a safer way of making sure youkai and human can live in...Er, what we would call 'peace.'" The sound of us walking on the dirt seemed to be the only accompanist to our conversation.

"And I guess youkai can't really live in 'peace' with humans, because they want conflict?" I make sure to pretend like I don't know too much. I might come off as know-it-all and for all we know, this world isn't what I looked up on the internet. I got to think ahead.

"How observant," Alice replied. _Did she catch on?_ _Is she Sherlock or something? Man, I am not looking forward to talking to the old gapper of time and space._ "But, yes, you are right. Which is why the shrine is here. There's another shrine over the mountain in the distance." A doll pointed her lancer at a mountain looming over the forest. It was taller than any mountain I've seen. Though, it wasn't saying much, since my state didn't have any mountains, not even any notable hills. "They help keep balance in case the youkai believe the rules don't apply to them."

The mountain looked huge, though. It felt like the peak just stared down at me. _Oh man, imagine what Mount Everest must look like._

 _I have a feeling of what happens when youkai don't follow the rules._

"This shrine is much closer, however," Alice continued, "and I don't plan on leading you anywhere outside of the Human Village."

 _Crap, I have no idea how the geography of Gensokyo works. Looks like my "Mind's Eye" won't work here. I mean, the Forest is here. The mountain is like, what, to the left? The sun is setting, so the mountain...Must be north of here. The forest is probably east-_

 _Who am I kidding, the mountain is huge, the forest is messing up my sense of direction, and for all we know, I'll end up in Hell if I dig a hole in this very spot._

I replied, "I'd be overstaying my welcome, either way."

"Oh, you're free to come by any time. I always have room." I looked at her strangely.

"Aren't you afraid of any sort of...Corrupted guys?"

"You mean, people like perverts? Muggers?"

"I think that was a dumb question to ask." Alice let out a slight chuckle.

"Not to worry, I always have a guard up. Otherwise, I don't have to lead them out." That felt intimidating, since she was virtually the only person in the Forest that led people out to begin with. It was hard to tell if Alice was ever going to be on my side. At least, with my lack of a power.

"Is that to, um...Induce fear? You sure are scaring me right now."

"Already judging me?" I could tell she was smiling. "No need to panic, I'm not going to lash out. I'm not a killer, mind you." I glanced at her dolls. From behind, the sight of the lancers and shields glinted in the light of the sun.

"I see."

 _Looks like I have confirmation that somehow I was taken to a world hidden from this world. I may as well go along with the fact that I was taken here. I was about to die, and I suddenly ended up in the Land of the Forgotten. Which...just doesn't add up, I don't think._ _What if I am already dead and I reincarnated?_

 _There's magic rumbling around Gensokyo, right? There may be a chance I can learn it._

Silence ensued for a few moments. I didn't want to ask her about magic, but...I may as well. She wasn't going to kill me if I did, right?

"How do you use magic?"

"Uhh…" I assumed Alice was rubbing her chin. "Magic is a difficult topic."

"Is there a way to describe it?"

"...You think of something. You do the thing. It just kind of happens. Then you end up tired."

"How vague." Alice shot a brief glare at me. I couldn't help but smile at the sight of it. It kind of felt like I was in an anime.

"I'm a magician, not a scientist. It's quite difficult describing a substance that disturbs the laws of physics to no end."

"Then, why not describe it like that?"

"Because it ends up asking more questions."

"Right...So, does it kind of just happen? Do you have to learn?"

"So you want to know magic," Alice concluded. I almost forgot we were still walking to the shrine. We were getting closer, actually. We were exiting the Forest, and moving toward a nearby village. I assumed it was a village, with all the lights surrounding it. I noted the large building we had also passed by. I didn't question it, since I already knew what it was, an antique shop for old things found because we felt like the stuff was obsolete now.

"Yep," I cheerfully responded. Alice sighed.

"It is possible for anyone to learn magic to some degree. I've noticed that, but it's either very difficult or very easy. It may have to do with the body, the type of the magic being operated, or even the surrounding area. There's too many variables, and too much time required to waste on it.." I nodded, making sure to keep note of these.

"If you truly want to learn magic, read books. Try to follow, but be sure to be cautious. I think the safest for anyone would be psychic powers. It'll mostly exhaust you, but at least you're not going to be setting things on fire and potentially burn yourself, causing a flood, or creating a black hole. Focusing your time on attempting to move objects is likely only going to exhaust you at its lethality. I guess. I've never tried it, so I wouldn't really know. Just don't go out reading ancient books about summoning demons and the Dragon God."

"I'd rather not say much more, since we're nearing our destination. If you need more information, come visit me. There's a magician in a mansion nearby that can help, but they are not...Fond of humans." I nodded, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

"I'll see what I can do." Alice nodded, finishing the conversation. The villages neared closer, and I was not aware of how big it actually was.

The houses...Were not the ones back where I'm from, that's ensured. Many houses looked strangely...Different. There were huge steep roofs, and the houses got smaller as they ascended up into their second floors. Most of what would be windows had these white sheets over them working as curtains. Most of these houses shared similar colors of brown, but the architecture was definitely reminiscent of Japan in the 17th century.

 _Japan. Right. How could I forget?_

"Are all of these lights on even at night?" I wondered out loud.

"Yes, they are. It's mostly to deter youkai, but it doesn't stop the fairies from messing around."

 _It reminds me of my own friends I...Guess that'll never happen now._ I sighed, realizing the chances of me coming back to the Outside. _Really got myself through a hole, didn't I._

"I see," I quietly said. I didn't even notice the dolls were gone and set at ease. Alice glanced at me, noticing my downed tone.

"Usually the people that are transported here are...Alone. Forgotten from the Outside World. It's why Yukari brings them, I imagine. To give them a home where they will be remembered."

"...I see." _The real question is if I want to come back. To the boring future of an adult life, working eight hours a day on some medium-end job, watching the latest trends go by, surfing the internet, and playing video games in my free time. I never plan on getting a girlfriend, I don't know what to do when I stop becoming a teenager. Wouldn't I just be abandoning my responsibilities if I stayed here? I have friends, I'm not alone. They'd miss me. They'd look for me. They'd wonder where I am. And what would I do here?_

 _I hate morals._

Alice inspected me briefly once more. "If you're indecisive about whether or not you want to stay, I think it's better if you take your time to explore Gensokyo first, and ask around others and youkai. I don't plan on persuading you to stay, but this land can be very problematic to the powerless, so you should take some time to ponder your decision." This long walk seemed to pass by extremely quick.

"Thanks." _I should get used to youkai reading me like a book._ "If I stayed, I assume it's possible to come out?"

"Yes, if you ask." Though, I didn't really understand the offer. Isn't the point of Outsiders getting transported because they're usually forgotten by the Outside? Was I forgotten? I thought I was dead!

I sighed. I needed to think about this more. Well, more as if, I really don't want to think about this.

"Alright, the shrine will be ahead on the path you're in," Alice stopped in her tracks, causing me to pause as well. She pointed at a nearby road, which looked very different from the path we had been taking, as the floor soon turned to concrete tiles. "I must head off, before my friend comes by and notices my disappearance. Farewell, and good luck."

"Thank you, Miss Margatroid, I'll need it." Alice began walking in the other direction, waving at me as she left.

"Alice will do just fine," She replied, while the dolls began hovering above her, wielding the weapons once more. There goes my defender.

How surprising. Have I already become friends with her?

Nah, all we did was talk a bunch about wibbly-wobbly stuff. I should hurry up, the sun was setting.

* * *

nice to see you checking out the story, hope you stay for a bit, i mean its mostly just out of a draft i felt like making so there's no editors or whatever

of course i have noticed there was a problem with my wording and grammar, so im gonna do my best to work on that (also might edit this chapter slightly to fix any mistakes i think i may have made)


	3. Chapter 3

The strange thing was that despite the slight worries in the back of my head, I had not found anything of particular threat. It didn't stop the worries from growing though. It was obviously going to be a matter of time before I met one.

I followed her advice, and continued the path. Interestingly enough, I have not encountered any fairies. Whether or not I was just lucky to find them not in the Forest or down the path, I don't know. If I remembered correctly, there were some fairies that lived in the Forest, and potentially dangerous ones since they dodge my senses with ease, and then there were some that often visited the village and the shrine I was about to go to. I continued walking, gazing at the village.

Although the village was big, it was nothing like the cities I was from. Though, the village did have everything one would need, but I couldn't quite tell since I was practically on the outskirts. I didn't see anyone strange, like a certain half-human I knew about, a book renter, and a historian.

 _So, Alice's house was somewhere in the Forest,_ I began pondering. _Most likely, her friend's will be somewhere nearby as well. There's clearly a path they're taking in order to avoid the distortion and illusion of being lost, from either flight or just simply a puzzle. When I left, there was a building just outside the Forest, which I think is where "antiques" are found. Going from the point, the path we took seemed to be linear enough, nothing branching off. The village gets much bigger from this point, and the path to this concrete thing must be...The shrine._

I stared at the path. "Okay…" I quietly muttered, noticing the problems with the stairs as I walked.

"Alright, I can do this! With or without magic!" I began climbing the stairs.

 _All that magic stuff Alice explained was extremely vague. I think all I got were some general tips. How does ESP work? Do I just focus in on my "mind's eye" and suddenly I got it? What do I do?_

 _Maybe I have to imagine myself levitating something! Or maybe pretend like I'm moving it even though I'm not there! Something. I'll try tomorrow, or something._ My thoughts seemed to be taking the idealistic route, but I wasn't sure myself.

"Aaagh," I stated as I climbed the last step, slouched and somewhat sweating. "Too many stairs, no wonder these people fly so much." However, I was closer to the shrine than ever. I had passed the gate! Unfortunately, I had no money to donate to the shrine so I had no business here. Hopefully, she'll know from the clothes.

I walked toward the shrine, noting the familiarity of its presence, yet so different.

I assumed it was all of the senses now coming together. I could smell the atmosphere, and hear the silence around the shrine, aside from some water running in the back with what I assumed to be the hot spring.

 _Where am I in the timeline, anyway?_ _If that's the spring, that's pretty far ahead, at least if this is the game I'm thinking of. I don't even remember what happens past that point. Something about some orbs that could tunnel people here or something, and uhh...Stuff._

I could see the donation box, which reminded me of some stupid joke. The building itself was very...Real. I wasn't used to seeing the difference of the art of creators and then art that reality brought itself. It seemed so...Accurate, yet contrasting to what I was expecting.

 _Alright, where is the shrine maiden…? Wasn't she dueling with someone in the sky earlier?_

Night was beginning to take over, and I could tell it seemed a lot different seeing the night here than in America. For one, There were more stars than I imagined and the night truly was illuminated. Though, it brought ominous warning.

 _Youkai._

I was very glad I got here in time. The night is where the youkai roam, and I was an ordinary human from outside this border. Keeping my guard up would mean nothing, but at least I'm in a safe zone. I looked up at the stars and sat on the front steps, instead of going into her shrine like a pervert. I would've done some prayers...But I was Christian. Hopefully, it wouldn't be a problem yet.

In the sky, I noticed the sounds of flight. While planes usually produced the sound of their loud-as-all-hell noises through the sky, this formed a flight sounded more like...Wind. Wind blasting through the air, but not like a storm or a tornado, rather a sort of high whistling sound. In the distance, I could hear it coming closer, before I noticed a spot of red amongst the stars in the sky. There she was, the center of the series I remembered, landing in front of the steps, and in front of me.

Reimu Hakurei. Her brown-black hair extended down just below her shoulders, while matching tubes were on her side locks. Her shrine maiden uniform was a bit off to me as she wore a red-white schemed apparel and it was the only common characteristic. She wore a red skirt, with a matching sleeveless red top with white collar tied with a blue ribbon. Underneath her armpits I could see the bindings that constricted her chest, and a large red ribbon was on the back of her hair. She held her rod of purification, a gohei. It was a simple wooden rod with paper streamers in zig-zag patterns leaving from one end of it.

 _Aren't breast bindings bad for your body or something?_

"Hi," I casually greeted.

"Hello," Reimu politely replied. _At least she sounds young._ Her red eyes inspected me closely, mostly to my clothing. "Outside World, I'm guessing you're from. I'm Reimu Hakurei, the shrine maiden of this shrine."

"Alan Vu, a guy who woke up here...Yeah. I think I was about to die."

"Really?" Reimu asked, somewhat surprised. "Well, at least someone saved you, right?"

"I mean, I'm pretty sure I _was_ dead, but then I ended up waking up in that big forest."

"Forest of Magic? Did the puppeteer lead you here?" I nodded. She sighed.

"Alright, well, I think I know who may have something to do with this, so do you want to wait until she stops by?"

"Sure...Sorry, I don't have any money." Reimu shrugged in reply.

"It's no problem." She casually walked up the steps past me, into her shrine. She was more polite than I remembered her being. I had no idea if I should come in as well.

"May I come in?" I asked, unsure.

"Of course, I'm not gonna let you get eaten in front of my shrine."

I blinked in wild panic, taking off my shoes and replying with, "Will that really happen?!" Reimu chuckled softly.

"No, why would that happen when I'm here?" I sighed in relief, to Reimu's amusement.

"While we're here, you want some tea?" Reimu offered.

"I already had some earlier, but thank you..." The shrine maiden shrugged in response.

"You never really try them all."

"Well…"

"Want tea or water?" Reimu asked. I shrugged.

I thought briefly. "Tea. Surprise me, please." I was hoping I wasn't going to be drinking blood.

Reimu walked into another side of the shrine, which I assumed was the kitchen. Now that I looked at it...

I'm pretty sure I was sitting behind the place people are supposed to worship in. There was also a fence surrounding this main hall I was now inside. I noticed a table that was inside, it looked like a table with just a giant blanket underneath. I thought there was a heater under it, but I tried not to seem like I wanted to pass out under it.

"Can I sit under the kotatsu?" I asked instead.

"Yeah," Reimu answered from the other side.

I ooh'd with gleam, and sat under it.

I was extremely comfortable with this, it gave me this feeling of just wanting to laze around in this all day. Kind of like another person I was looking at.

"You act like it's your first time being under a kokatsu," Reimu casually commented, popping by with a tray of two partially steaming cups of tea. _You're not wrong._

Unlike the last time, these two cups seemed much less fancier, and looked similar to brown cylinders this time. "Jasmine tea," She continued. "I've been experimenting lately. I think it tastes nice."

Strangely enough, this tea seemed significantly colder. I tried it anyway, since I was going to have to get used to drinking this kind of stuff without my tongue dying of heat stroke.

It was...Hot, but more manageable. However, there was this strange taste that I loved yet hated. A sort of...floral flavor. In a way, the tea tasted...peaceful and serene? There was a slight bitterness to it as well, yet they all just came together and I couldn't quite describe it.

I wasn't a big fan of those kinds of tastes, if I was honest. I prefered Alice's more, but I could see why a lot of people would like this tea.

"Uhm...Wow...This is pretty good."

"Is it? Thanks, I've been working on this for a while," Reimu replied back, looking somewhat smug with the compliment I gave her.

"Well, I don't think we should be talking about tea…" I kind of wanted to get to the topic of where I was going to live for the time being.

"Oh, right, Outsider. Well, um, you'll probably need a place to stay for the time being until you can return. I'm pretty fine with you staying here for a little bit, but you'd have to help me with all the youkai that mess with the shrine. Plus, this shrine isn't really...Home sweet home, you know?"

"Actually, I was hoping to see the other shrine." I noticed Reimu's gaze go a little colder. "You know, the one near the mountain?" Alright, I was going to have a lie a little. "Alice kind of told me there was another Outsider on the mountain, who runs a shrine. I was hoping for more tips on how to...You know, adapt."

"Yeah...I know who you mean, Sanae. I can see why you would say that, since she knows what it's like to be in that sort of ordeal. At least stay for the night, so you'll get some time with my...Accomplice with your situation." Reimu sighed. I wanted to sigh as well, since that accomplice could just destroy me in an instant.

"Thank you," I reply. They were going to assist me anyhow, right?

"Well, don't thank us yet, I'm not too comfortable with her. I'm pretty sure she's the cause of why you woke up here. "

"So no one has any idea of this place?" Reimu nodded in answer. Why do I know so much about it then?

"Right. Anyway, usually Outsiders lose their memories when they come back out, and it ends up being this dream, but sometimes people want to stay and live here. You know, new life and all."

"And abandon their family and friends on the Outside?"

"...Sometimes, they don't have any." Reimu was a bit silent. I hadn't expected something like that. I was thinking too much about myself.

"So...Any tips while I'm here?"

"Don't go outside at night, unless you're in the village or in my shrine."

"Thanks." Reimu let out a gesture of a thumbs up at me.

"Anyway...That's about it, unless you're looking for details. Do you know of a woman with blonde hair?"

"Yes." _I know where this is going._

"Er, that's a bit vague. An old woman who likes to hold a parasol or a fan around, and travels around using big portals with eyes inside?"

 _Yes._ I lied and said, "No."

"Okay, well, you're about to meet her in...Hold on." Reimu drank the rest of her tea, before resting a bottle which looked similar to a vase, on the table beside it. _Was that sake?_ _Did Japan even have a legal drinking age? It's 20, right?_

 _Then again, they didn't really care._

Reimu casually picked at her fingernails, forcefully ignoring the sake, while sipping her cup of tea, even though there was nothing in it. "Usually I can get her with some alcohol, but this stuff tastes terrible, I'm not sure what she likes about it."

"It's a classic!" I heard, then there I saw it. A portal above the bottle. I immediately jumped from the sight.

The portal was somewhat creepier when I looked at it and made me jump in surprise at the sight. There was something awfully intimidating with a giant rip in the air showing an endless purple-black void while dozens, almost hundreds of eyes stared into the rip's direction.

I saw a hand slowly extend outward from it, reaching for the bottle. That is, before Reimu acted so quickly, I couldn't even see her hand. Reimu was tightly gripping an arm.

"Hey, Yukari, you have an Outsider, do you mind?" Reimu asked as she kept hold of the hand. Something told me this Yukari could pull her hand out at any time if she wished, but she simply wasn't doing it.

"Do you mind?" I heard another voice reply. _Older and much more mature._

"Could you stop trying to steal my empty bottle of sake?"

"It's empty? You really should throw those sorts of things away." _She didn't see that? Maybe I could've bribe her alliance with alcohol!_

 _Oh wait, I was 16._

"I'll use your gap as my trash can."

"What? My boundary transportation does not come with a recycling bin!"

"Really?" Silence aside from maybe the interrogating lasers Reimu was firing.

"...No."

"Well, unless you want my empty cup of tea in there as well, I think you should explain how you transported him," She gestures toward me, "Into here."

"Yes, yes…" Yukari replied. I then noticed the portal suddenly expanded. As the purple eye-filled void got bigger and bigger, the strange thing was how silent it was, and how it literally made no sound as it expanded. In a way, it frightened me.

As she floated through the portal, I got a good look at the legend that stood with the game, Yukari Yakumo.

With purple eyes and long blonde hair, she carried a pink lace parasol and a paper fan, while a dress matching her eyes covered for her apparel. She had a pink mob cap with a thin red ribbon, and there were other smaller ribbons tied on her accessories and the tips of her hair.

 _Didn't she wear a different kind of attire in another...Er...Maybe this is like her casual wear or something?_

"...Hello, miss...Sorry to disturb you," I politely greeted. I badgered myself, realizing I should've stood up and bowed.

"Ah, no need for formalities," Yukari replied back, closing her parasol and then unfolding her fan, covering her mouth. I felt a smile toward me, in a sort of terrifying feeling behind it.

"So...My name's Alan. I don't know what to do here."

"Alan? Which Alan?" I realized that Yukari must have transported many into Gensokyo.

"Alan Hien Vu."

"Ah, yes. " She replied, "I remember now. You were about to get into an accident, weren't you?"

"What? But...I was about to die, and I woke up here!"

"You likely passed out since it was quite a close moment. You didn't even notice the clothes I dropped for you. " I blinked with no idea briefly. Before long, I realized Yukari must have sent some clothes over and I just didn't see it. Whoops.

However, the close moment dissipated. Like a boulder on my head, I immediately turned my thoughts to my mom and dad.

"What about…" Yukari covered her lips with her fan in reply, but something told me there was an expression I did not want to see.

"...I imagine you know." Complete silence. I don't know what I thought during that moment, but I assume it was surprise, then anger. I don't know if the tone of her voice was what induced it, or if it was just shock and denial flying through my head.

"..." The youkai stayed quiet as well in reply, and knew what my reaction was going to be.

"Forgive my bluntness, and my condolences to your loss." I imagined this to just be a regular polite reaction from a youkai. She probably didn't care at all.

"...It's alright, " I said, even though it was blatant lie and I was not okay.

"Though, you are alive, at least." I was beginning to have thoughts that Yukari was simply using me as something else entirely, like food. I forced myself not to curse out at the youkai. There was more silence that took control of the mood.

I finally took a deep breath and said, "Thank you. For saving my life." Yukari blinked, and I kept in memory the brief moment of surprise that was on her face. "Even if you couldn't save my parents...They would've died to protect me."

"Like any other parent should," Yukari mumbled after a long while. I could've sworn she glanced at Reimu, but I took it as my imagination. Reimu didn't say anything nor could I read her expression.

"What do you plan on doing?" The youkai asked, likely curious about my plan. Unfortunately, my plan extended through me getting into the shrine. I had no idea what to do next. I sort of winged it with my reply.

"...I'm not sure. Maybe look for a house and job. May even try to become someone's apprentice. I really don't know."

Reimu offered, "You could help clean up around my shrine, and I'll let you stay here." It would've resolved the guilt I had for not doing anything in here.

"Or become my servant~" Yukari casually pointed out. Reimu shot Yukari a glare. "Or not. Reimu, you should learn how to take a joke."

"I don't think that's a joke," We said, mostly in unison. Yukari continued staring at us, the eyes beaming with amusement. Reimu and I shot a glance, only replying with a shrug.

"Reimu," Yukari began, "I think you could at least recommend something that doesn't involve working for you. You're slacking enough as it is."

"And where are you?"

"Negotiating."

"About 'classic' sake?"

"I never said it was a democratic negotiation. These things are very important to discuss about."

"So is this." Yukari blinked.

"Well, you're not wrong. Alan." I looked up at her.

"Yes?" I replied.

"If you don't know yet, I'm Yukari Yakumo, a simple passing youkai who led you here. According to the other world, you're dead, but if you wish to return; you are free to ask. I can offer you much here, without much in payment. I don't really need much, either way." It was a bit of a no brainer if I didn't think about it, but I was considered dead outside of Gensokyo. What would be the point of coming back?

"I'd need some time." The youkai nodded in reply.

"I'll be returning home now. For now, farewell, Reimu, Vu. Oh, and if you need anything, feel free to call for me." Yukari quickly left through her portals, gracefully and quickly. Reimu sighed.

"I'll go set up an extra futon." She walked into the depths of her shrine.

I helped Reimu out with the futon, since I didn't want to be first impressed as a lazy doorknob who just wanted to sit under a heated table. Reimu seemed to be appreciative of the help, at least.

 _Construction with my brother has never felt so useful now_.

"I think I have some extra blankets and a pillow, so I'll go look for that." Reimu began walking away once more. I looked at the futon. It was very different than the kind we have. For one, it wasn't a portable couch that you could change into a makeshift bed. It looked like a fairly small mattress with what I assumed would be covered with a blanket and a pillow.

"So, Alan, what's it like, in the Outside?" I shrugged in response.

"Boring."

"I've heard. Is it really that dull?"

"It's more like, people have the 'peaceful' life they want, but it's not enough. Though, judging from what's happening now, it's almost as if the world is gonna tear itself apart. It's all just waiting and working to me."

"Tear? Wait, why?"

"Politics, poor leaders, you know." Reimu nodded in reply.

"That's...Generally vague, but I kind of see it. Is it that bad?"

"I think we've just gotten too sensitive. It's...I don't know, really." I went to the front step, looking up at the sky. I wanted to change the subject. "I never knew the stars could shine like this," I commented. I could hear footsteps trail behind me.

"You get used to it," The shrine maiden replied, "But yeah. It really brightens up Gensokyo."

"I think I would prefer our more simple colors," I added. "It feels like I'm looking at night lights."

"That's just the magic," She replied, spinning her gohei.

"Magic beyond the stars?"

"Nah, just kidding..." She began walking away. "Or not. Who knows?"

I didn't have an answer. "Something, I guess. Good night, Hakurei."

"Good night," Reimu replied, walking to what I also assumed was her room. I sat back from the kokatsu, sighing. I was only hiding my feelings of fright with the polite manners I was expressing. What was I going to do?

I spent several minutes in the dark. I sat under the kokatsu, and simply pondered.

What was I doing here? What should have I been doing? Why was I here and why do I know so much about this place when I shouldn't?

 _To be food. For_ ** _them._** My conclusion went. Why else would I have woken up in the Forest? To them, I was a regular human. Only...I wasn't. From what I remember, no one from the outside world should have known about Gensokyo, except for three people! Where was I, and where from? Did Yukari accidentally travel to another universe? Was everything just a coincidence?

It made me angry that Yukari would think of me that way. Something for other youkai to feast on. Was that what all humans were to Yukari? Was Gensokyo this dark inside the colors of its danmaku?

Before long, my questions ran away from my mind. I walked toward the new futon set for me, with one last question while my heart pounded away my desire to sleep.

 _How can I benefit from this?_

idk how can he benefit from this

this story is probably gonna get worse, but it depends on how far my imagination goes

i personally think the concept i had is somewhat solid, but his prior knowledge of the touhou project is a bit out of place. i really dont know

i might put this story on hiatus to give myself some time to confirm what exactly i want to happen; new summary and all, since i don't quite have the idea yet about what i want to happen to alan


	4. Chapter 4

I woke up fairly easily. I was still groggy, but I felt pretty okay for someone who got kidnapped into another world for possibly fodder.

Only, it was still dark. I thought, _Nighttime? I must've woke up pretty early. Or late._

Noises caught my attention. I couldn't quite depict what it was, only footsteps and shuffling. Since I was already dressed for outside tasks, I began walking around the shrine.

I immediately stopped in front of the entrance. There were some lights from the shrine, but the rest of the way was darkness. The source was coming from behind. Perhaps there was a shed I didn't know about?

I walked back inside, and looked for the back exit. This floor was really well-done, I noticed. There was no sound as I walked across, aside from an occasional creak, and I wasn't quite sure if it was from my footsteps. Somehow, I managed to find the way out without breaking anything. I opened the door.

There were a couple of more lights, which lit up a large hot spring and I could feel the humidity and the steam rising out of the pool of hot water. It tempted me with a lot of things, but the sound was taking over the soft _shh_ of the ambience. There was a mountain, I noticed. Surprised, I wanted to look more into it but I was hearing clattering as well. I had to ignore that part of my curiosity, so I looked around and spotted a shed.

 _The sounds of a robber._ I thought to myself. I walked, slowly and cautiously, to the shed. The noises diminished, and soon became footsteps. I had no time to react aside from walking swiftly back inside, but was immediately stopped by the voice.

"Hello?" I heard. It was a girl's voice, but younger than I thought. Mid-teens, I would've guessed. To the best of my ability, I glanced back at her.

She had shoulder-length brown hair tied in pigtails. On her head was a black hat with a white bow along with red framed glasses. She wore a school uniform of a purple plaid skirt and matching sleeveless top that looked like a jumper dress, over a long-sleeved white blouse and a black bolo tie with this weird clasp. I couldn't tell what else she was wearing in the darkness.

"Hi...?" I replied back. I honestly couldn't tell if she was a robber but judging from all of the cleaning materials she was carrying and her age, I would've personally concluded a no.

"Are you...worshipping? 'Cause you're supposed to be in front of the shrine, where the place of worship is." She looked to be struggling to carry her stuff.

"Oh, no, I'm just...An Outsider, I guess." She stared at me, and I assumed her eyes were surprised.

"You're from Earth? Where?" I blinked, taken aback from her reaction. I realized that she didn't say "Outside" like the people I had met.

"...United States?" She provided a low whistle.

"I've never been there before. It's not often I meet someone from so far away."

...Was this Sumireko? I decided not to ask just yet.

"Are you from Earth?"

"Yeah, Japan. Nice to meet you, I'm Sumireko Usami." She curtly nodded her head. Well, there went my question.

"Alan Vu, nice to meet you as well."

"So, what brings you in Gensokyo?"

"A portal thing. Mind if I help you?"

"Nah, go ahead." She handed some of the cleaning items to me, which just seemed to be a broom and a dustpan. She didn't have much problem holding any of the other stuff, which were just various cans with brands on them I didn't recognize.

We walked inside the shrine, though I was somewhat surprised someone like Sumireko would even be in the middle of the night, carrying cleaning materials.

"So, are you like me? An outsider?"

"I wouldn't say that...Maybe more of a seeker?"

"Well...Aren't you from Earth?"

"Only difference is that I come here whenever I feel like it." I've forgotten about that. She had some sort of...Astral projection?

Then I thought about what she had on her. Why did she have cleaning supplies?

"What's the cleaning stuff for?" I asked her.

"Oh, it's a part-time job. I clean Hakurei's shrine, and I get paid."

"Really?"

"It's not a lot," She casually stated back. "It's just so I have something to do."

"So you can come here intentionally?"

"Yeah. How much do you know about Gensokyo?"

 _A whole lot._ I wasn't going to say that, though. "A little. How about you?"

"Not enough," She replied, sighing. "Though, trying to spread the word makes me sound like a lunatic." She chuckled briefly.

"Can't you use your magic?"

"And get myself kidnapped for experiments? I highly doubt it."

"...How do I learn magic?" Sumireko didn't reply for about a minute. We walked to the front of the shrine, to the place of worship. I handed her the broom, and she casually began sweeping the area.

"That's a hard question."

"Well, how did you learn yours?" She made a gesture of a thumbs up toward me, as if she was in a commercial.

"Hard work!" I stared at her. She smirked at me. I was fairly sure she just happened to receive them by chance. After all, not many people really believed in psychic powers, so it was possible for her to gain those powers purely by possibility.

"Mind if I grab another broom?"

"Oh, sorry, this is the last one, I broke a couple."

"...How?" The broom began lifting in the air before beginning to bend. The cans started floating as well.

Being witness to this was something I was used to, since it was a reminder of magic tricks. However, I had to remember this stuff was done by pure mentality. It was pretty surprising at that realization.

Sumireko took the broom while the cans rested on front of the doorstep. "I end up having too much fun."

"You should teach me." She stared at me, probably something of contempt.

"You're expecting me to teach you magic? I'm a high school student, I'm not a magician." I was about a head taller than her!

"Hey, so am I. You're more experienced, so why not tell me what you do? " She sighed, continuing to casually sweep the front. "What time is it, anyway?"

"Probably about two in the morning. I don't bring my phone since there's no service, and all the other stuff...I might break them in the middle of my danmaku duels."

"I should be getting to sleep. Shouldn't you be studying for a test in a good night's sleep? Or something?"

She scoffed. "I'll be fine. I wouldn't be here if I thought I wasn't."

"Good point."

"So, as for your magic topic…" She stated, "I just try imagining myself picking up these things." She set the broom on the ground. "You mean ESP, right?"

I nodded and watched closely as she continued, "So, I'll walk away, and basically I will think of an entire clone of me, then that clone will try to pick up the broom. I mean, er...Imagination and stuff, you know."

"Okay…"

She extended her hand forward, her fingers doing this sort of lifting motion. The broom slowly flew above the ground.

"Like that," Sumireko stated. "It's a bit more complicated, but trying to imagine yourself picking up an object without you nearby would take some time and it's worth a shot. It might not work, but it's how I do it."

"I see…" The broom fell back to the ground with several clatters.

Sumireko picked up her broom. "So, do you want anything else? Besides money, I need that for my own reasons."

I rubbed my chin in thought. I then thought of something I've always wanted to do. "Want to play a game, like Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe?"

Sumireko tilted her head in confusion. "It's almost thirty minutes until three, I'm in the middle of my shift, and you're in a land full of dangerous youkai,and you want to play Tic-Tac-Toe?"

"Sure, it'll be the first game I play in Gensokyo."

Sumireko rolled her eyes, pulling out a piece of folded paper. "These are my math notes, but just to make sure, you're talking the game with multiple Tic-Tac-Toe boards, right?"

"Yes."

"Have a pencil?"

"No." Sumireko then withdrew her own pencil in reply.

"Your lucky day, then," she said. She set up a large pound sign on the back of the paper. How the paper managed to stay straight, I only assumed it was her power. She sat criss-cross on the ground, setting the paper down. She then drew more boards on the larger one, making a tic-tac-toe board of tic-tac-toe boards.

"Sooo, who goes first?" I asked. Sumireko handed the pencil to me.

"I'll let you have the first move." I nodded, sitting down and taking the pencil.

Our conversation continued as we thoughtfully drew series of X's and O's. It was a great opportunity to give my "guesses" about the people of Gensokyo and its history. It helped that Sumireko helped me out with the history, or at least, what she knew about it.

"The idea of boundaries...And you suspect this just from what you heard from talking with Yakumo and Hakurei?"

"Yep. It's weird, it's almost like they don't even control a power, they take control of the literal concept of it."

"I see what you mean. Yakumo is certainly powerful person with her intelligence and boundary control...And she uses that sort of ability as her personal trash can." She sighed. "This is actually a fun game, though I'm not sure why we are continuing since neither of us will win."

"Neither do I."

"...You're going to return, aren't you? To the Outside?"

"...I don't know."

"Do you plan on staying here?"

"...I don't know."

"Well, I can still teach you on the latest of high school education if you need it," She chuckled.

"A student being my teacher, how strange."

"You know what else is strange?" Sumireko answered back.

"Hm?" I replied. She broke the pencil in half. Was she mad?

"Looks like a tie." I glanced at the the board, and she was correct. A tie in every part of the board. Why'd she break the pencil? "This game was enjoyable, Vu. Though, have you any experience in danmaku?"

"...No."

Sumireko flicked the two parts at me, forcing me to duck to avoid them. "You just dodged danmaku," She joked. She then stated in a more serious manner," Yakumo can lend you a weapon. Think wisely what you want, because she'll likely trick you with over-the-top weapons that you don't know how to handle." Yukari was willing to do that?

"Did she trick you?"

Sumireko rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "No. I've just seen some fairly funny weapons that outsiders picked. If you want, you can get a water gun that shoots flames. Or a flail...Made from very questionable objects."

"Really? What should I get?"

"Something that won't end up killing you," Sumireko advised nonchalantly.

"...Thanks?"

"You're welcome. Thanks for the game. You should probably head back to bed. Sorry for waking you up."

"It's no problem...Good night, or morning, hope to see you again."

"Same here," Sumireko's last words before I walked back into the shrine, into my futon.

* * *

I rubbed my eyes in my second awakening, and then briefly glanced over to the kokatsu. Reimu was on one side of it, but she was sleeping. I concluded that she was waiting for me, and ended up napping. Or maybe she does this a lot. Sumireko was nowhere to be found, and I concluded she had put up her materials.

I blinked briefly and went to the opposite side of the kokatsu, and sat. I wished I had something to brush my teeth with, but I wasn't sure if Reimu had an extra toothbrush. I needed some new clothes too, as well as leave the shrine, before my clothes began stinking up the place. Maybe Sanae and Sumireko have extra clothes for me.

If I was a girl, that is.

"So, already performing clandestine meetings behind my back?" I heard, jumping up in surprise. Heart exploding, I then realized it was Yukari's voice, who had suddenly walked in out of nowhere. She must've gapped in, I inferred. However, I was still having a panic attack.

"Uhh...No," I awkwardly replied, glancing at Reimu's sleeping body, and then at Yukari.

"Haven't even invited her into the futon as well. You're quite the pleaser, aren't you?

Managing to lure my shrine maiden into...I guess one would call it kokatsu with you, rather than bed, is a bit of a red alert. I may have to do something about that."

"...What?!" I blankly asked, unsure if I was mad. Yukari replied with a chuckle, which gave me the implication that she was just lying to get under my skin, and she knew exactly what happened. It wasn't even funny! "Well, it could get much more terrifying if you gave me a weapon I could use!"

"Well, I can do exactly that," She casually replied. It was just like Sumireko had said.

"You can?"

"Why, of course~!" She enticed. "I have no need for weapons, but I can always acquire a spare specifically for you."

"Sweet! Well, uh...Why?"

"It would be no good if the people, transported by me or not, were to be in danger within their first week in Gensokyo." I was pretty sure she was expecting me to be past danger levels in the first week.

"Oh. Well, can I learn magic?"

"It's always magic with you all, isn't it?" Yukari sighed. "Why not go for something simple, like a sword?" Something that wouldn't kill me.

"Can you give me a gun with that doesn't need ammo?"

"How uncreative," Yukari bluntly criticized. Hey, that was rude!

"What? What's wrong with that?"

"I could get you a sword that fires shooting stars from the sky, I could offer you a ring that converts your arms into gauntlets that shoots shotgun shells, I could even give you an old Bean Gun that fires lasers in several modes. I'm unsure why you need a gun that has more bullets in its magazine than it can hold." She knows how to speak my lingo, alright.

"It's the natural dream of gamers and soldiers alike, isn't it?" Had to be honest, I wanted that zapper...Beam gun.

"I think it's the natural dream of 'gamers' to wish for immortality, and 'soldiers' to survive their battles. Alive." I had to admit, I wasn't really thinking of that.

"...Can I get the zapper?" I wanted to see if the Zapper was good. Despite it being somewhat of a hit-and-miss, no pun intended, I'm fairly sure it would work as a magical weapon. It looked like one, anyway, and a sword wasn't useful. Shotgun gauntlets seemed like too much recoil for me.

"We call it the Beam Gun. Sure, why not. Sanae no longer has use of them, either way."

"She has some?"

"Of course. She used to mess with them and tried to use them in duels."

"I imagine that was fun to watch."

"Especially for us youkai. Speaking of youkai, you are looking for a place to live in for the time being, correct?" I glanced at the shrine. It wasn't really a home I could belong in. I glanced down at the sleeping Reimu. I hope she doesn't snore.

"Yep. I was hoping to stay at a place near Sanae's." Yeah, near a giant mountain full of dangerous youkai that could and would harass me.

"Without any powers? That's somewhat unwise, Vu." Crap, she was right.

"Er...Where do you suggest?"

"Alice led you here, correct?"

"Yes…"

"You could stay at Alice's place. After all, you wanted to be an apprentice." I reminisced about my meeting with Sumireko.

"I might stay at Reimu's."

"Hmm. I wouldn't recommend it, there are many a youkai visitor you'll find during your time there. However, that is your choice."

"I'll only stay here for a while." Lest I die and all.

"It's literally no trouble for us. You're only going to be here for a while, and if otherwise, only a few decades. I guess I'm just in the mood to help a person out~" Something about that made me struggle to swallow. "Here's your Zapper~" She casually reached her hand down, a gap eating her hand. In a few seconds, she withdrew exactly what I expected.

It looked like some sort of ray gun from science fiction, though the orange and white bright colors threw off that sort of feeling. Safety purposes, I thought.

"We usually call it a Beam Gun, but Zapper also works," Yukari added. "I think it's a better name."

"Awesome! Can I duel with this?" I held the gun up, grasping at it. The first time I'm holding a Zapper is going to be inside a universe that I'm not from.

Yukari scoffed in amusement. "With that? I doubt you could throw it at people with that. Did Reimu tell you the rules?" Err...No.

"The Spell Card rules?" I asked. I had played the games a lot, and it was an interest seeing how exactly it was implemented in a story. Hopefully, I wasn't going to punch people to win.

"Correct."

"Not really. I had a very brief explanation. I mean, I've never done danmaku."

"Well, it's supposed to make conflicts fair for both you and I. You're also not limited to magic, which what I guess is the reason for your desire to learn magic." Yes and no.

"So, the idea is that I write down on a piece of paper what my 'spell' is going to look like, and then I just screen it to Reimu for approval?" I found it surprising that Reimu was still asleep. She would seem like the person who would wake up easily to our conversation.

"That's a very brief description, you're missing a lot of details. Even if you had a spell card approved, you can't use it unless you have the ability to. A spell card is just a piece of paper with a description of your attack. It's an agreement sort of deal. You tell each other how many spell cards you can use, and you just duel it out."

"I see...How do I use this? Just pull the trigger?" Yukari stared at me for an uncomfortably long moment.

"No...You see, you must take control of your appendages using electrical signals in your brain. Then, as your muscles expand and contract, you must make them do so in a way that moves your hand in a certain manner. Connected to that hand, you grip the Zapper with your index finger, and then pull the index finger against the trigger with a force that meets the conditions of the trigger's movement, which will then cause what we would call a 'bullet'. I think you know how a gun works, correct?"

After feeling like an idiot, I quickly got out of the kokatsu and walked to the doorsteps leading outside. I aimed it at the ground, and pulled the trigger. While Yukari casually walked behind me.

A bullet suddenly appeared out of its fake barrel, moving significantly slower than a regular one. It exploded in other tiny spheres of random colors before hitting the ground. The spheres spread around the center, before disappearing. I ooh'd and I then held the trigger down. A laser shot out from the barrel, going into the ground. It was a fairly loud sound, but nothing like the whirring of a minigun or the shot of a gun. The ground didn't look at all affected from the gunfire.

In the background, I could hear Yukari comment, "How terrifying." I ignored it, too shocked by my own use of "magic."

"Wow...That's so cool! How do I make patterns?" Yukari glanced at me in amusement.

"Let's hold off the mastery training."

"What happens if I shoot someone with this?"

"They'll feel a slight sting. Does the same for humans and youkai alike. As I was saying, you should enjoy your stay. You're a cat under the mask of a dog."

"?" Yukari smiled, before falling down into a bottomless purple void, waving before she left. I decided to wait until Reimu was up.

Was she calling me scared and hiding it with my polite manners?

I realized that I literally had nothing to do. There was no phone for me to use, no tablet, no technology, and not even any sort of fidget cube for me to mess with. Which meant the only choice I had was to practice the magic stuff Alice and Sumireko generally summarized.

I set my gun, the Zapper, on the kokatsu. I stared at it.

How was I supposed to use psychic powers? Did I even have any? Sumireko, how did you come across such rare ability!

 _"Hard work!"_

Yeah, right.

I began experimenting for several minutes. I tried to think of the area around me, centered the gun itself, and then lifting the gun. Nothing.

I focused on the gun. I imagined it levitating in the air. No result.

I imagined the gun floating. I was fairly sure nothing happened there.

I tried each for several minutes. Then, I imagined another me in the area, and tried to lift the gun up. I thought I saw it move, and in a panic, continued. Under the belief that I was moving it with my mind, I kept going for several minutes.

Which turned to multiple headaches that lasted for a while. Reimu was still sleeping, but it was still early in the morning. If I were to judge, probably before 8 A.M. Though, if this was Japan, the sun would be in a different spot than if I was in the United States, so maybe I was wrong.

I continued onward. For what felt about an hour, I had no idea if I made any progress. It was tedious. Then again, I closed my eyes throughout the process. I tried again. I wasn't expecting a result as magic didn't take minutes to learn, but I wanted to see if it would give me a hint.

I motivated myself to keep on going. Finally, I opened my eyes and tried once more. It took several seconds, but the gun had shuddered. It shook! Something happened to it without use of my hands!

I did magic! I have psychic powers! I was a lucky guy! I wasn't sure how much I should've been cheering, since I literally made a gun shake, but it was impressive enough for me! Now, I'll learn how to move the gun a few centimeters! Or was I tricking myself and someone was shaking the table?

"Nice job," I heard suddenly. I jumped in surprise, realizing Reimu was staring at me, and at the gun.

"How long were you awake?" I blankly asked.

"Oh, about thirty minutes. You had your eyes closed during that time. Did you awaken your 'Mind's Eye' or whatever?"

I blinked, glancing down to my Zapper. "I think I made it twitch."

"Congratulations," She complimented in response. "You're a pretty quick learner. You might be able to fly at some point."

"Awesome. So...Do you mind letting me stay here a while?" Reimu tilted her head.

"What happened to going to Sanae's?"

"Youkai."

"Ah, right. I don't really mind, but I should warn you, you might get some backlash from the villagers. I'll probably ask you to do errands for me, and a lot of youkai visit here anyway."

"I think I'll be fine with the shrine maiden around here." Reimu smirked in reply.

"Right. Well, I'm done for my morning. I usually sit here until something happens."

A bit...More lenient than I imagined. "Really?" I asked for confirmation.

Reimu responded by resting her head on the kokatsu, sighing as if this table was the most stress-relieving thing ever.

I sat back before asking, "Anything I can do to help out?"

"Probably ask Yukari for a toothbrush and some extra clothes. I clean this shrine enough to see my own reflection."

"Maybe I should look for a job in the big village out there."

Reimu scoffed, "Why go for a job when you have the best occupation in the whole land?" I stared at her. I wasn't sure why, but it felt like we had become friends already.

"Feels like you're doing all of my work."

"A great sacrifice, right?"

"No, I feel like a lazy bum." Reimu smiled.

"Then how about becoming a shrine maiden?"

"I don't think that's possible."

"Or become one of us, and start solving conflicts?"

"I have a gun that I can shake with my mind." Reimu chuckled in reply.

"You'll definitely solve conflicts with that sort of terrifying power."

"My spell card will be me throwing this gun at my opponent." I pretended to throw my gun like a tomahawk, making whooshing sounds to just emphasize the sheer horror of my obedience of physics. "

Reimu continued with her smile and replied, "Yeah, you see, that's undodgeable, I'll have to reprimand you."

"No fair! I didn't read the rules!"

"Then maybe you should go ahead and do that. Make sure to sign a contract that you agree to the terms and conditions." What was I agreeing to, a court of law?

"Can't I just not duel anyone?"

"Pffft. Like you can do that."

"Personally, I'd like to do that."

"We will destroy the entirety of Gensokyo if all of us thought like that."

"Why not just make duels a light show, and see how much one person can do with colorful patterns?"

"...We will destroy the entirety of Gensokyo if we did that. People will get too biased and try to vote for me. Besides, I think it's fine that we do this. As long as youkai abide by the rules, most of it is fine."

I would've accepted that, but that means youkai who did not follow the rules…

"I see…" I withdrew from asking that question. "You should teach me danmaku!"

"Nah," She replied lazily.

"Aw." It was at that point I heard a different voice, one that soared through the sky.

"REEIMU!" I could hear the shrine maiden yawn over the voice. It wasn't hard for me to figure out who it was, from the golden piece that passed the sky, on a broom that flew like a lightning bolt.

"So…" Reimu slowly said, "By the way, she's not a youkai, she's just a friend of mine. Feel free to say hi."

* * *

hoho boy, nothing special here, just some quick tips and tricks with usami and a nice zapper

of course, im not quite how to picture sumireko, as she kind of has a superiority complex

oh well

woahauh i updated, happy reimu noises

so i have an idea, and i think itll work, but im not letting you know because that would be spoilers

happy reading


	5. Chapter 5

Within mere seconds the girl grew closer, holding her large witch hat close to her head, and landing near the front of the shrine. I could feel the dramatic change in wind, and it felt like being in a small tornado.

"Marisa," Reimu greeted while her head rested on the kokatsu.

The newcomer, Marisa, wore a black-white witch's outfit (or was it dark blue?), and a large hat with a bow to match. Under her black clothing, I could see a faint pink shirt under, and she wore boot of the same color as her outfit. Her blonde curly hair rested behind her shoulder, complimenting her golden eyes that burned with confidence and energy. I gulped, somewhat nervously, and I couldn't help but stare at her.

"Back in the kokatsu? You're lucky I donate!" She then glanced at me, causing my heart to beat faster. "Oh, hi. Who's this?" Forcing my panicked thoughts away, I waved.

"Hi. I'm Alan…" I slowly said.

"Oh, you're an Outsider! Anything happen to you yet?" I shrugged, and showed her the gun.

"Miss Yakumo gave me this." Marisa ooh'd, inspecting it while Reimu sighed, likely in irritation.

"Looks nice! We should duel sometime! If you already know how to, that is."

Reimu and I glanced at the witch. "No," We both said.

Marisa pouted. "You guys are no fun."

Reimu replied, "Right, right, and I'm a youkai. What do you need from me? **Another** duel?"

"I was hoping to just visit!"

"And drink tea."

"And hang out!"

"While eating my food."

"Wow, Reimu, do you take me for some kind of bum?"

"It wouldn't be the first. Why not just make your own food?"

"Because your food is better!" Marisa beamed in delight. I forced myself to stop staring at her, though I was getting that strange feeling that I was becoming a third wheel. Actually, I was.

I replied, "You could have Reimu teach you."

Marisa snapped in realization. "You're right! Thanks...What's your name?"

Reimu and I replied, "Alan Vu."

Marisa then said, "Thanks, Vu! Reimu, teach me how to cook!"

Reimu glared at Marisa, who simply grinned in hope.

"Marisa, do you expect me to get off this kokatsu, ready up the kitchen, and teach you how to cook?"

"Hey, that's a bit...Er, yeah."

"Why?"

"Because I'm pretty bad at it."

I then intervened, asking, "Do you just stuff everything in a bowl and blow it up?"

Reimu snickered while Marisa frowned sheepishly, replying, "That's not it, I just rush! Gotta be ready to start the day!"

The shrine maiden replied, "I see." Marisa pouted angrily at Reimu. I couldn't help but be entertained with this.

"So, Alan!" Marisa stated, who I assumed was trying to change the subject. "I assume Yukari got you here?"

"Yeah...Uhm...Now I'm just deciding on...My future, I guess."

Marisa then replied, "Well, feel free to decide! You can do danmaku, with that thing anyway, so maybe you can actually be like us!"

Reimu butted in, "You say that every time."

I replied, "I'm kind of living in the shrine for now and working here, I guess. I might be Alice's apprentice, if she lets me."

Marisa asked, "Oh, you know Alice?"

To which I responded, "Yeah, she led me to the shrine."

The witch whistled lowly. "We're good friends, so if you need any help with magic, you can talk to us!"

"Thanks…" Reimu had her head set on the table.

I then heard a fourth voice. "Stop right there!" It brought the attention from all of us. I glanced over the front. For once, I saw an unfamiliar appearance.

Only the unfamiliar appearance tripped with a yelp and looked fairly exhausted. Looking at her reminded me of a lion-dog statue.

She had light skin, green eyes, and long seafoam-color hair that was multi-layered, the longest of which extends down past her waist into multiple points. A shorter shoulder-length layer laid beneath with inward curls, as did her bangs. She had a grey cylindrical horn on top of her head and what seemed to be two more grey horns that may or may not be her ears. She had comma shaped beads on these grey horn, wore a red short-sleeved collared shirt with three white buttons and decorated with white cloud designs and also white shorts with bright cloud designs, and these flip flops which I believed were called geta.

I didn't really know, I wasn't a Japanese person. I'm around...Two thousand kilometers east of it person.

The stranger groaned miserably, a dazed expression on her face.

"Oh, the komainu," Reimu replied. I had no idea who this person was, none from what I could remember anyway. Was she a new person I didn't know about? Well, there was always room for more people. The shrine maiden continued, "What's up?"

Marisa was quick to approach the komainu and help her up. The person, I didn't know her name yet, replied, "There was an intruder...Rummaging through the shed…" Oh. I realized that must've been Sumireko. How long did she stay for?

"The shed?" Marisa commented. "Sounds like something I would do."

"Oh, so that's where the noises were coming from," Reimu stated, then glancing toward me. "This is the komainu, Komano Aunn." Komainus? I was fairly sure they were lion-dogs, like the statues I saw in front of the shrine. I didn't ask because it just seemed like obvious information and I'd feel like an idiot if I asked.

She weakly waved at me, sighing, "Hello…" I waved back.

"Don't worry too much about her, she just helps defend the shrine."

"But I've failed in my job! Someone has trespassed!" Aunn seemed upset.

I then replied, "That was Sumireko...She came by to clean up…"

Reimu nodded in agreement. "It's fine, it's fine. Just as long as you try to stop the occasional youkai and people that steal from my donation box. I can always get my tools back from Yukari, anyway."

Aunn sighed again, still looking fairly somber. However, just hearing and looking at her was like seeing at a complete stranger. I really did not have any idea who she was. Perhaps there was a new game-

I interrupted my thoughts. This wasn't a game, and I know that because I'm in it and it's extremely likely a functioning world that I just didn't know existed. These were people who knew more about Gensokyo than I would, and calling this a "game" was just...It didn't feel right.

Was I right to not call it a game anymore?

Reimu then asked me, "How'd you know who Usami is?" It cut off my spaced-out thinking, and left me sort of jolted.

I responded, "I woke up early and she was here."

Reimu rolled her eyes. "You guys are all just early birds, aren't you? Komano, want some tea on your way out?"

Aunn mumbled an agreement, Reimu standing up and walking back into the rooms of the shrine. The komainu quickly followed behind.

Marisa then called out, "Make some for me, too!" before flopping down in Reimu's place. Now it was just me and the witch. I wished I was older now. Weren't these people around their early 20s?

"So...Marisa," I began, grabbing her attention. "What's it like in the Forest of Magic?"

She shrugged. "I wouldn't call it boring. It's kind of quiet, since the fairies are always roaming here. But there's lots of stuff for me to mess around with!"

"Isn't that stuff lethal?"

"If you don't know how to use it!"

I stared at her. "...Do you know how to use it?"

Marisa scoffed. "Of course I do! Most of them."

"How do you not get lost?" I wondered out loud.

"You don't go on foot, or find Alice's place."

"That's where I woke up…"

"Really? In front of her house?" Marisa stared directly at me, clearly inspecting me. It caught me off-guard and I struggled not to stare back like some sort of blushing lunatic. "Anything happen to you? Any explosions of gas, rashes, weird 'cracks', stuff like that?"

"...N-No?" I made a self-note to keep watch for the all of the weird things in the Forest of Magic, then corrected myself to just anything in general.

"Okay, good. Just gotta be careful where you step, you know? Sometimes I walk around just to make sure I still know my path." Marisa leaned back, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.

I sighed once she distanced herself away from me. "Think about showing me the path?"

Marisa winked. "One day!" What was _that_ supposed to mean?

"But...Never mind."

Marisa sighed as well, lying back on the kokatsu. "It's been awhile since I came back here."

"When was the last time?"

"Yesterday."

"...Right."

I began thinking about where I was. This was Gensokyo after all, right? I wondered what kind of questions I could get answered from these people without making me out to be this sort of creep who just happened to know everything.

With that in mind, I asked, "I guess that means you come here often? I planned on visiting Moriya Shrine, so I was wondering what I should worry about while I'm heading there."

Marisa casually shrugged, replying, "The youkai, obviously." She tossed a little device in the air. I took a fairly close look and recognized the octagonal shape and wooden appearance, marked with eight trigrams. It was a very fearsome object, that I knew very well.

She continued, "I mean, you'd probably have trouble walking all the way there, so if you want, we don't really mind flying you there ourselves. There's a whole bunch of youkai that'll mess with you if you end up staying at the shrine, so...Be wary, I guess. If you're having trouble flying, you can always take the tram that they set up. Makes things a lot safer and easier."

"I forgot that trams are even a thing…" I mumbled, before asking, "How common are Outsiders, anyway?"

"Hmm...Not really common. I mean, if you're thinking about people who can't do stuff like destroy anything or be godly like you, I haven't seen a lot…" I had a feeling I knew the reason why. "Why, ya' afraid of getting hurt?"

"No, I mean...I was expecting a lot of danger around here, but...I managed to get to the shrine without much problem."

"...Not even Rumia?"

"Who?"

Marisa rubbed her chin. "Hm, that's a bit weird, usually she comes by whenever she smells a person she doesn't recognize. You know, kind of like a dog. Maybe she was too busy…"

The answer brought me more questions than I thought. "I hope Miss Yakumo isn't planning something out…"

"Knowing the-" She glanced around the shrine. "Knowing the gap hag, she probably is. Maybe there's something special about you. Like _others_ seem to claim."

"The other outsiders?"

"Yeah. Sometimes they come in, thinking they're the hot stuff and trying to beat Reimu in a duel when they barely know the rules. 'Hahah, my powers are more than a match for you!' Or something like that. Usually, they aren't." Marisa chuckled in reminiscence.

That put my brain back into processing, as they sounded strangely familiar. I looked back at my Zapper. "At what point should I be realizing that my…'Magic training' is paying off?"

Marisa hummed in contemplation. "Usually a week. If you're lucky and a prodigy, you'd probably get some results by the end of the day but that's only if you're really bent on being patient and committed to it."

...Was I improving too fast or was I unaware of something? Something didn't feel right about this power I have. There had to be a monkey's paw somewhere here.

Marisa continued, "Hey, if you're looking to become the number three youkai hunter as my apprentice, then feel free! Just watch for the youkai or they'll get 'ya!" She winked. "Hey, that weird gun thing, can ya' use it?"

I picked up the Zapper and pointed it at the ground.

 _Pew._

Marisa blinked. "...Are you trying to...Take someone down in three shots?"

"S-sorry, I don't really know how this sort of thing works." I didn't feel any recoil from the shots and didn't even feel like firing an actual gun. I kept the trigger pulled, but no bullets were firing. Instead I pulled it repeatedly like an actual pistol.

Bullets flew out of the barrel like a machine gun before I stopped squeezing it. "What do I call this pattern?"

"...Oh!" She put her hands together in realization. "Call it a straight line," She said, before breaking into a fit of chuckles.

I was about to retort back before Reimu came in, holding a tray of tea.

"Straight lines hit more than you think, you know," The shrine maiden commented, setting her tray down on the kotatsu.

"Someone like Reimu wouldn't know, though," Marisa said.

Reimu shrugged and said, "Can't you just move the gun and change the way the bullet moves?"

"Oh! Why not swing your gun and then pull the trigger? Maybe you'll curve the bullet!" Marisa suggested, taking a cup to sip. I blinked in response.

"That doesn't seem like a bad idea. I'll curve the bullet and try to make it go around you." Marisa choked on her tea, clearing her throat.

She raspily replied, " _What?"_ Reimu suppressed a smile.

"Doesn't seem like a bad idea, Marisa. Hey, hold the gun right up to her face so it'll be a bigger challenge."

Marisa protested quite violently. "No way, I got a face to protect! Do it on a tree or something!"

"Hey, Marisa?" I said to her.

"Wha-" I pointed the gun straight at her face, pretending to pull the trigger. She yelled and shrunk under the table within moments. "OKAY, VU, THAT'S GOOD ENOUGH!" She said from below the kotatsu.

Reimu nearly burst out in laughter. I couldn't help but fall into a fit of it. Marisa raised her head from the kotatsu, pouting. "I need these eyes, you know!"

I waved the gun around. "If I had more of these, I could make a light show. Hey, does Miss Sanae or Yakumo have any spares to give me?"

"...Probably Sanae. She likes these sorts of things. Don't ask Yukari, she'll steal them."

"So...I guess I'll go there first. Should I get a change of clothes?" Marisa leaned closer to me, rubbing her chin in contemplation. I blinked, partially shocked by how close she was.

"Hmm, nah, you're fine. I'll take you over to the Mountain myself."

...Wait, I didn't ask about the spell card rules!

* * *

god's not dead my doods

hi

dont worry im still here and working on this thingy


	6. Chapter 6

"HOLY SH-" I screamed before it turned into a loud set of unintelligible shouts, as I was holding onto Marisa tightly. With the broom between my legs, I questioned how Marisa even felt comfortable being on this thing.

Especially hundreds of feet in the air. On a rough broomstick. In an altitude where there's _barely_ any oxygen! It's an amazement I haven't passed out.

"Don't worry, Vu, I'm a professional flier!" Marisa casually said. Professional jet pilot, more like. She practically dragged me along her broom before I got a complete answer about the rules.

" _Don't worry, I'll explain on the way!" Marisa winked._

I wanted to die a second time.

"I CAN FEEL EVERY BIT OF WIND, CAN'T WE JUST DO A CRUISE OR SOMETHING?"

Marisa happily chuckled. "Maybe I'll curve the flight for you!" The broom began darting around in weird patterns, bringing me to the point of almost vomiting and passing out in shock. It was honestly hard to describe how much my stomach was twisting and turning from the altitude.

Thank everything my willpower avoided a heap of bile on Marisa's clothes. I closed my eyes and just kindly waited for my demise. After about a few minutes, I heard other sounds of people. It didn't quite sound like Marisa's whistling broom, but more like flapping wings.

"Marisa, guess what-" I heard. I didn't know what was happening, and I sure as hell didn't feel like finding out.

"Hiya, Aya. This is Alan Vu, I'm just taking him to the Moriya Shrine," I hear Marisa say. I felt her hip turn slightly. "Yo, say hi."

"HELLO!" I say a little too loudly for my own good.

"Ayaya, is this your first flight? It would make for a great scoop! Wait, you know you have to take him to the Pond right?"

"Yeah, I know. I don't want the wolf all over me."

"Hey, do you mind if I take pics? I can get a real nice scoop in!"

"Nothing but the truth, eh?" Marisa retorted.

"Hmm, how about I take you on a trip to your first danmaku duel?" Aya said, ignoring Marisa's remark. I tried to shake my head, but I was hugging Marisa too tightly to actually do that.

Marisa swiftly replied, "Hey, I haven't even explained the rules yet!"

"Then I'll give him a first-hand experience!" I heard Aya waving something. From all of the wind that was moving around and against me, I assumed it was a fan.

"Oh yeah, and guess what, he'll cheat on accident and you'll complain and you'll write a report about it, then complain some more by writing an editorial about it."

"Uh- Erm. That's not true."

"Keep tellin' yourself that. '9 Year Old's Complaints Brings Tengu Uprisal! Discrimin-'"

"AAAAYAYAYA, that _just_ blew over! It was really offensive, you know?! Villagers are all but respectful nowadays!" Aya said, sounding defensive and embarrassed. I was bit too distracted to find it funny.

"H-hey, can we just find somewhere I can stand on…?" I mumbled quietly toward the witch.

Marisa sighed, but I didn't think it was because she was annoyed at me. "Sure, Vu, but certain bird is blocking the way."

"I'm right here, you know. Besides, you should keep flying so you can get used to it. What, with your gun and all." I forgot that I was gripping my Zapper so hard my fists were white. Something about that thought rubbed me the wrong way, but I was honestly not caring about it at the moment.

"I just want to get to the shrine…"

"Well, you do have two options. Take the reluctantly slow route with a gun-crazy maniac-"

"Hey!" Marisa butt in, pouting. _Slow?!_ Was the only thing I could think of in my head.

Aya continued, "Oooor take the fastest route of Gensokyo and be there in a flash!" I assumed she must've been pointing to herself, but all I saw was the skin over my eyes.

"I'll take the...Gun-crazy maniac," I said loudly.

Marisa whooped. "Hahah, take that, now we know who he wants!"

Aya replied, "That can be taken out of context."

Silence aside from a soft breeze.

"...Shut up," Marisa said. "Just interview him and go away when you're done."

"Roger, roger!" I could hear Aya closing in next to our little flight trip down the mountain. She put a hat on my head. "Hey, Vu!"

"Yes," I shouted politely. Unfortunately, it didn't really come off as polite, and more like retarded. I felt myself moving once more.

"What brought you here to Gensokyo?"

"A car crash."

"Have you enjoyed Gensokyo so far?"

"No." I then contemplated over the answer again. "...Maybe."

"What do you think of the people in Gensokyo?"

"...Uh...They're cool." I didn't know how to answer that question.

"Nice to know I'm being complimented," Marisa commented.

"Are you Japanese?" Aya asked.

I replied with, "No." I could hear Aya mumbling over to Marisa. Sounded like they were having their own private convo.

"Where'd you land when you got to Gensokyo?" Aya asked.

"I just told you, you dumb-" Marisa said, before getting interrupted by Aya's remark.

"I'm getting clarification!" Marisa sighed.

I _clarified_ , "Big forest, near Alice's house."

"All right, well, I'll ask more questions later when the gun-crazy maniac doesn't want to shoot me! Seeya sometime, Vu!" With that, Aya flew off. At least, I thought I heard her fly off.

"You don't have to shout, by the way," Marisa commented.

"OH! Uh...Sorry," I awkwardly said. Marisa chuckled, before the flight turned to silence and I was left to my own thoughts.

...

"You don't have to hold on so tightly," Marisa casually commented with a grin after thirty minutes. Or an eternity, since both felt the same to be honest.

I realized after opening my eyes, we were already up at the Mountain. I coughed, guessing that all of those days with mountain climbing were quite useful. Or was it because I technically died? Was I a ghost now? I didn't feel like one…

I blinked, glancing around. I tried at first, rubbing my eyes to get used to the sudden brightness.

The sounds of huge waterfalls could be heard faintly roaring from the top of the mountain, but the first thing I noticed was the pond. It was fairly big for a pond, topped with various plants and lily pads unfamiliar to me, and it looked deep. The water looked crystal clear, and below it was just deep blue. It felt calming to be here when I was in the area. The pond was surrounded by trees, all of which covered the ground from the rays of the sun. It was a pretty sight.

"Wow…" I said. "Maybe I should've opened my eyes during the trip."

"'Ya think?" Marisa said, spinning her broom before slamming it on the ground like a staff. "Welcome to the Giant Toad's Pond."

I took a deep breath at the view. Hey, I felt like I could breathe! "It's pretty."

"More than that, it's packed to the brim with youkai! If you wanna learn magic safely, then it's best for me to take you to Sanae's~"

"Right, then...Are we flying? Or are you afraid of the wolf?"

"I'm not afraid of any wolves!" Marisa retorted, pouting. "I'm just not up for dueling my way in while you're on my back."

"Oh, sorry for being a burden."

Marisa blinked, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. "Don't worry about being a burden, I can battle anytime at any moment! Let's just get moving."

"All right then."

And so began our walk up.

...

We spent several minutes walking up a nice little path made by the youkai (whatever youkai they were), and I had to admit it was a lot nicer and well-maintained than I thought it would be. I could hear Marisa explaining about all of the neat little things this mountain had. She walked in front with her hands behind her back and hugging her broom while I walked beside her.

"You know the kappa, they're always hidin' on their own, but they're constantly building new stuff for other villagers to use. They started to put phones out, you know?"

"Uh-huh..." I said, slightly distracted. My head was stuck toward my gun as I walked, my mind just kind of concentrating on it.

"I mean, I've some of the stuff myself down at Kourindou, but it's weird seeing the kappa make all of that stuff. And those tengus, they're starting to move away from typewriters and use-"

"Keyboards?" I finished, narrowing my eyebrows in concentration at the gun. She still didn't notice, though.

"Yeah! I heard it's faster and can get the news rolling out faster!"

"You actually read the newspaper?"

"'Course. I mean, I don't trust half of it, but it's my only source of outside knowledge, you know? Gotta find out what's happening if I need to solve something!"

"Mmh." I kept the useful info in mind. Despite the houses being almost 17th century, these youkai were developing 80's and 90's technology. It was pretty phenomenal thinking about it. "I think you should be more careful with speedy news."

"Why?"

"Leaves more room for error, y'know? I don't wanna be first on the news, I want to be first on the "

"Oh, I get it. Nah, I'll be fine, though! After all, it's only..." Marisa continued though I didn't notice. I managed to get into a trance onto the gun, being stuck on staring at it.

I didn't hear anything for a few minutes.

"Uh...Vu," I faintly heard after those minutes passed. It sounded vaguely shocked.

"Vu," I heard again, this time worriedly.

"ALAN!" I heard in the form of a shout. I immediately snapped back to reality, realizing I was facing a solid wall of rock in front of me. I jumped back in surprise, landing against Marisa's arms. I heard a small cry of surprise, but luckily no one fell.

I blinked. "Whoops."

"Vu, you were flying."

"What?"

"Did I stutter, dude, you flew!" It took me a moment to realize. I quickly got off of Marisa, turning around toward her.

"I DID?" I said in complete astonishment. I wasn't sure what to think at all.

"Holy crap, I can fly?!" I nearly yelled, staring at Marisa for confirmation. She didn't really have any words.

"I...I guess? I didn't think you'd learn it so soon! Do it again!"

"I...Uh." I blinked. How _did_ I fly? "Um...I don't know how."

"Well, I saw you staring at that little Zapper. Do it again!"

I stared at it with intense focus. A minute passed.

"Um. I think you can just stop now," Marisa said. I sighed, my head throbbing intensely.

"Man, I fly within one day, and I don't even get the chance to see what it's like."

"Hey, don't worry, Vu. You'll get it in practice! Just...Don't go into a trance and walk off a cliff."

"Uhm, yeah, I'll focus now."

* * *

just before christmas

just for the hell of it, i'm gonna make something for "behind the incidents" at christmas time

be ready my doods


	7. hiatus bois

Alan shot through the wall, collapsing onto the ground.

"Yo, Alan, you okay?!" Marisa yelled.

"NO!" Alan yelled back, his voice muffled. Yukari walked infront of the scene, covering the blurred motion of Marisa picking up her friendo.

"So you perhaps may be wondering where our good friends are?" Yukari asked, covering her mouth with her fan. It was fairly obvious to note that she was smiling quite genuinely behind that fan.

"Seems as if our scholar has been busy on his own duties-"

Sakuya appeared on the other side, looking fairly upset. "Yukari, I was told that I was going to be given a spotlight as I am the favorite-"

"And obviously, you've been lied to," Yukari said, bringing Sakuya to some distress. "You're supposed to be around here ten chapters ahead." Softly pushed the maid aside, who was grumbling sadly about her lack of appearance. "Oh hush, you'll get your moment soon, the scholar enjoys your presence."

Yukari sighed, opening up her parasol.

"Anyway, I do hope to bring the message that you, the readers, are not being caught in for an uncompleted history of an Outsider…" A gap opened up to her left.

" _Alaaaan,"_ It whispered.

"Named Alan, so do not believe that you're coming for a discontinued story, but just a hiatus to try to have life straightened out."

Reimu leaned in from the side. "Hey, remember when Sanae was supposed to be the main focus of this, and it went through so slowly that I actually got bored trying to listen to the scholar explain it?"

Alan's head in the distance, about the size of a mole due to depth perception, was right above Reimu's shoulder, yelling, "It's not my fault I gotta be careful!"

"Yeah, Reimu, not everyone is born with so much power!" Marisa agreed. Reimu rolled her eyes, leaning back out of the scene.

Yukari pulled out a phone from her opened parasol, turning it on. "Oh, it appears the scholar has messaged me."

 _3blendee: if you spoil anything, I'm actually going to remove you from the entire story._

Yukari tapped her thumbs on the phone, saying out loud, "'Sor...ry, but you have...No control here…Send."

 _Ding._

 _3blendee: okay, I guess you'll just write it then bye_

Slight furrowed brow. "'Fiiine…'" She said reluctantly. Tap.

"So, viewers, I apologize and hope you can keep your patience, and perhaps a chapter will come in."

"Next year, or so."

 _Ding._

 _3blendee: die_

TLDR: sorry bois, tests and grades have been distracting me from actually writing, but i hope you guys are still keepin up with uhh

I mean, there's no new chapters but whatever, gotta catch up to the point alan and marisa literally sit around and wait for sanae to go "oh mah god, it's an outsider, we should hang out and i'll show you my evangelion collection"

anyway, have a nice day, doods, i hope to update soon.


	8. Chapter 7

So, we moved. There wasn't a better way to explain, mostly because I was afraid of falling off. However, the path up did not actually have any railings or anything to keep my hands against, aside from a rocky wall that didn't provide much grip. The view was great, though. I couldn't describe it though. One would have to find a picture to really present the idea of what it may look like, and that didn't even do it justice.

 **A/N** : i literally have no idea how to describe youkai mountain

As I walked, I was given the time to really think about what I was doing. The big problem with me going up to this shrine, if it hasn't been put up against my face, is the youkai. As far as I'm concerned, there are an extremely rare amount of people that are not youkai that come around these mountains. Granted, that meant I could have more time learning more about the people I'd like to prioritize, but it also meant that I wouldn't be able to grow a relationship with the actual villagers. After all, if anyone's going to help me get through the dangers of Gensokyo, it would be the people who go through it every day and night.

Then again, I haven't actually met up with any youkai that would provide an immediate danger. Maybe Gensokyo really was nicer than I had thought. At the time, though, I wasn't thinking that. After all, I was hiking up a mountain and there wasn't a lot of safety restraints. I guess since everyone was able to fly, there wasn't much need for that.

Everyone except people like me.

What didn't help was that there were new people. People I didn't know about. Then again, me knowing about the person in front of me more than they thought I knew is a bit like cheating the system of life, wasn't it?

I wondered how my siblings were doing. Were they having my funeral, or was it too early? Was my corpse going to be cremated? Wait, I was saved, though. They'd be looking for me. I wanted to tell them that I'm not there anymore…I missed them.

"Are you spacing out again?" Marisa asked, jolting me away from my internal space.

"Whuh? Yes? What was the question?" I said blankly. Marisa rolled her eyes.

"You're just like Sakuya, aren't 'ya?"

"Sakuya?" I repeated. A person I knew about, and a person that I loved knowing about.

"Yeah, she's a maid in the mansion that's basically in front of the Mountain. She tends to space out a bunch. It's kinda weird that she manages to keep all of the carpets vacuumed while she's doing it."

"I see. I'm too lazy to clean up that stuff."

"Same here. And she does it mostly by herself, in a big mansion no less! I can barely bring myself to do that in my own house!" Marisa huffed.

"Yeah. I'm usually just caved into my room, on a phone or anything electronic...And then I'd just keep pressing my thumbs and my fingers...Sometimes I helped my family do chores."

The sounds of our footsteps continued in accompaniment with the birds, the sunlight, and the rustling trees. "Well, you're gonna have to do all of the chores when you're by yourself," Marisa said.

"I know. Fold laundry, setting up dinner, sweeping and mopping…"

"Sure sounds tough."

"No, of course it isn't...I just never felt like doing it sometimes."

"Sometimes my mom would come into my room when I wasn't doing anything. Ask me what I was doing, then tell me to do this, and remind me to do that to myself to stay healthy."

"..." I began to wonder if Marisa was listening. I guessed I was just rambling, but I continued.

"I would do this, and my mom would just check in on me and tell me I wasn't doing it right or I didn't do it well enough. I'm probably dumb for not helping out more…" I sighed.

"..." I felt her hand on my back. "Hey, don't down yourself like that. I didn't get to where I was with a sour mood!" Marisa said, turning her full body toward me, and had an encouraging grin on her face. "Besides, I'm sure your mom is okay!"

My heart sort of skipped. "...Mmh."

"Besides, it's not like…" Marisa's voice drifted away as it slowly transitioned to realization. "...Hey, Vu."

"Alan's fine," I said.

"There's a little pathway in these walls. It's a tunnel, and I think I can see...Flowers. Pink flowers?"

"Sakura blossoms?"

"No...It's too purple for that. I think Meiling takes care of those...Oh, they look really nice, I think you use it for medicine, hang on-"

"Eh, let's just keep going, Miss Kirisame. I don't think you should be stealing."

"Marisa, we're all friends here, y'know. And uh, borrowing, you mean." Marisa said, glancing away from the tunnel and going back up the path. A few minutes pass without much conversation. It was awkward until we managed to get outside. Bright sunlight!

"Hey, Alan."

"Yeah," I responded.

"Shout something."

"Why?"

"You'll find out in a moment."

"Okay."

I cupped my hands over my mouth, faced up to the sky, and yelled out, "SOMETHING!" About a few seconds passed, and I didn't hear anything.

"Sooomethiiiing!" I heard echoing back toward me. I blinked toward Marisa and I wasn't sure what to ask. "Are echoes supposed to take that long? And sound girly?"

Marisa chuckled, "No. That's the yamabiko. Lives over in a Buddhist temple."

Realization was the first thing to strike me, before simply a sense of cheerfulness. "She sounds nice."

"Yeaah, but she's a nervous one."

"Where is she?"

"Pfft, I don't know. Temple moves wherever its leader feels like it should go."

"Okay then, Marisa. So...I haven't actually met a lot of youkai since I've been here."

"You kidding? You met three since the night and day you've been around here. Most people

stop exploring at around one."

"Well, maybe I haven't found the _one_."

"Whatever. Were you expecting to get killed or something?"

Something about how the statement hit my suspicions directly got my full attention. "Yeah?"

"I dunno if you know this since most people from the Outside World don't, but...Youkai don't feast on anyone anymore."

"Really?"

"It's not as common, I mean. Youkai live off of belief, and it just so happens that fear is the best way to believe in something. They usually got that off of 'I'm going to eat you!' and then eating you. Buuut, youkai don't get hungry. If you find other ways to induce fear…"

"So...Are they causing fear by beating people in danmaku?"

"No, no! Well...Maybe. I dunno, I think we do that more. Youkai have been busy trying to blend into the villages, kinda offering to do stuff. Being less like monsters and being more like helpers. Maybe scaring them too. A lot of people are saying it's because the fairies started, so it started becoming a trend, and we realized that they, the youkai, weren't dying."

"So volunteers that people can trust? ...Most of the time?"

"Hence, believe in. 'I believe, that you, Yukari, can help me make a better village!' A good laugh is always better than a great scare, right?"

I smiled at the thought. "How's that been working out?"

"Not too great. But there have been a few youkai that just hang around do chores for people, and I haven't heard any people getting eaten. We're getting progress, and Yukari wants to keep pushing it. Why, I dunno. It's Gap Hag, after all." Marisa did a little turn up the mountain and her head smacked straight into a pole. She jumped back, both of her hands on her head as she squeaked out some "Oww!"

To which I quickly ran up to Marisa, examining her head. "Is it bleeding?" I asked in concern.

"N-nah, nah, ow...It's fine. I just hit a pole, that's all." She glanced up at the pole. I noticed the large red mark on her forehead. The pole looked impaled straight into the wall, and for all I knew, it was. It had the same texture of road signs one would see in cities. I had a feeling I knew who caused that.

"Damn it, Yukari, always gotta ruin the mood…" She said, rubbing her head.

"Guess you should've yielded," I mumbled under my breath. "Is there no one we could get ice from?" I asked, a little less worried for Marisa's situation. She'd probably been through worse, and it would have been a disservice if I worried over small things like that.

"I get ice from around three different people, and Sanae is not one of them." I glanced up at the sky, noticing some sounds. What those sounds were, it was hard to describe. Explosions? It sounded more like bursts, but it didn't stop me from noticing the mass amounts of purple papers I saw flying around. I could've sworn I saw a hint of green in the sky.

"...Is that her?"

"Huh?" Marisa looked up as well, softly rubbing her head as she did so. "Oh, yeah. Looks like she's dueling someone. You think she'll notice us if we call her?"

"Why not use your magic to grab her attention?"

"'Cause. That's against the rules. And Reimu would be all over me if she found out."

"I don't think calling out would really grab her attention. It might distract her and I would leave a bad impression."

"How pessimistic."

"You were the one who didn't want to do magic, though…"

"...Right. Uhm...How about...We wait until they're done, and then I blast something somewhere in the distance to grab their attention?"

"Okay."

We both sat down, watching the lights flicker across the sky. It wasn't anything I expect: I was thinking louding noises, explosions, and the Doppler Effect multiplied by seven billion. It was surprisingly quiet.

Several minutes passed with silence as we watched the lights. It was like watching fireworks, in a way. It would certainly be my second time seeing them so close by.

A Gensokyo where no one has to get killed. It may have just been a dream, but people here specialize in the barrier between dreams and reality. Whatever was happening here would've been revolutionary for Earth. How was this organized? How did people, or youkai, change this youkai-eat-human and human-exterminate-youkai land into a human-youkai peace union?

It changed a lot of my fears for the better.

"I was expecting it to be loud," I commented as I spectated.

"Right? Same here. I guess it's for 'not disturbing the peace'." Marisa said, just sort of shrugging.

"Is this the start of a conflict?"

"We call 'em incidents, but probably not."

"What usually happens? I'm not in danger, am I?"

"Ohoho...Probably. Just a bunch of danmaku fights, a bit of talking, doesn't really go much further than that. Though, we're the professionals here. So whatever you done maay mess us up, no offense."

"None taken." I heard a slight noise, coming from up the hill, sounding like mumbling. Marisa was first to stand up, but I wasn't sure if I was supposed to as well. She snuck over to me, and put a finger up to her lips.

She gave me a look that may or may not have conveyed, Hush or you'll scare the deer. She then glanced over up the hill. I blink as per usual, as I do need to refresh my eyes to make sure my eyes don't dry out.

"If I were to apply the measurements on the...Oh, but then the screws wouldn't fit, I need the whole box to actually fit…" I saw something! A recognizable person, and she was absolutely short, a few meters ahead of Marisa.

She slammed directly into Marisa in the midst of her mumbling, who was about a head taller than her. She had blue hair tied into twintails with matching eyes, she wore a large backpack and a dress with more pockets than I could probably count, and a necklace with a key. I noticed she was holding a cattail and a notepad with a pencil in the spirals. I also thought I was basically a head and a half taller than her.

"EEK!" I heard her yell as she bumped into Marisa. She practically jumped back in panic, demanding, "W-who- E-er, what are you doing here??"

"Hiya!" Marisa said, only grinning at Nitori.

"H-Hiya?! You're not usually here at this time…"

"Well, I'm escorting someone."

I could hear Nitori's change in tone. Kinda sounded more serious, and before I knew it, they were off huddling quietly and whispering. I twiddled my fingers and stared at the rocks intensely. Maybe if I try hard enough, they'd fly at something. No luck.

"Alan," I heard, causing me to turn directly to Marisa.

"Hi," I said.

"'Sup. This is Nitori Kawashiro. Nitori, Alan Vu." Marisa said, gesturing toward the girl in front of her. I knew that, but I wasn't going to let that show.

"Hi, Miss Kawashiro."

Nitori blinked, seemingly nervous. She kept on fiddling with her hands, as well as glancing directly at the ground and often at Marisa. "H...Hi."

"Nervous? You don't have to be, we're all friends. I guess," I said, shrugging. "Right, Marisa."

Marisa casually put her hand on Nitori's shoulder, causing a bit of a jolt. "Yeah! Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"I was- um...I was going to go buy some stuff from Kourindou to help prepare a prototype…"

I blink. "What kind of prototype?"

Nitori just sort of glanced away. "...A-a tower…To help transmit more service on the cell phones…"

"Oh, cool." At the time, I wasn't sure what I should've been confused about. I didn't read the official sources, so maybe this happened to be a thing? Or something else was here that I didn't know about? If people started to have phones, then that would mean eventually they'd have GPS…I wonder how that would work.

The thought of Nitori hacking into the GPS satellites made me smile a bit.

I added along with my awkward comment, "You should show me how it works."

Nitori blinked. "I...I um. I'm not really…"

Marisa casually said, "She doesn't really like showing it off to other people, unless it's a special presentation." Nitori seemed to be in agreement with her.

"Well, that's okay. I'm just trying to make it to Sanae, if you don't mind."

"M-Miss Kochiya? She's over-"

"We can't get her attention without disrupting the fight," Marisa pointed out.

"Er...Why not just call out to her?"

"...'Cause that would disrupt the fight," Marisa said, rolling her eyes in amusement.

"G-good point," Nitori stammered out. "Er...Mr. Vu. W-what happened to the tram?"

I had forgotten about that tram, the realization hitting me. "The tram? I dunno, we never went on it."

Marisa blinked, confused from my reaction. It might've been because an outsider like me wouldn't have known about the tram to begin with. However, her expression changed to her bubbly energy as she responded, "I wanted to give him the first-hand experience of flight! He's got his own weapons too!" Nitori quietly waddled toward me to inspect my Zappers. It was hard to believe that since I knew her at the time, she was older than me.

"I-I'm surprised you didn't pick swords."

"What good are swords in danmaku?"

"If you're the half-phantom, th-they could be deadly."

"I barely know how to use one, so it's fine."

"How do they-" I pulled the trigger before she even finished her question and a little laser popped right out of its barrel, hitting the ground. Psshh, it said as it died.

"..." Nitori stayed silent, analyzing my brief danmaku before she made a brief face of surprise. "Oh, right! I nearly forgot…" She placed her backpack down on the ground, opening it and digging straight into it, leaving behind the sounds of clanging metal, plastic, and maybe wood. Sounded heavy, I could be sure of that.

She then pulled out a figurine of sorts. "I was hoping to get this to S-Sanae, but I've been caught up with some prototypes I have to design...Could you do it since you're on the way there?"

I glanced at the figurine before I asked, "Do you have anything for me?"

Marisa commented, "Ooh, a bargain."

Nitori rubbed her chin for a moment before saying, "I...I do have something to assist you when you're starting out on flying or magic...I'll show you once you and Sanae come over to confirm that you did it...Agreed?" She held her hand out.

I stared at it. The offer seemed like an offer made too quickly. However, if a businessman or woman was anything, it was at the least honest. Most of the time. I made the decision to trust her.

I shook her hand, bring the deal to light. "Sure. Just remember to do it, I can see that you're busy, Miss Kawashiro."

"O-oh, it's nothing, I'll be sure to remember it." She handed the figurine to me, to which I carefully took. "U-uhm, Marisa," She said, orienting herself to the Big Bad Blondie who was

casually waving.

"Hiya!" She said.

"I'm h-heading off now, so keep Alan safe..." Nitori advised, before equipping her backpack and scurrying off the mountain.

"Okay, bye, don't trip," Marisa bid as I watched the towering backpack trot down the mountain. The sounds of footsteps began to disappear, trailing down the mountain.

I glanced up at the sky and realized the lights disappeared. For that moment, I wondered if I was missing something. "Hey, did they stop fighting?"

Marisa glanced up with me. "Oh. Let's head over there, they're probably done."

"Walking or flying?"

"Uhh...But…"

"Just fly past the wolf or something, I dunno. I just wanna get there before something ends up happening to me."

Marisa scratched her head in thought, glancing at the sides of the mountain. It was the same direction as the sounds of the waterfalls, and I had guessed that we'd have to be careful incase we step into any unwanted territories. "Righty then. Hop in, Alan."

_

NUMBER 6

FANFICTION FOOT LETTUCE

THE LAST THING YOU WANT IN YOUR FANFICTION FEED IS SOMEONE'S FOOT FUNGUS, BUT THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT YOU'LL GET

a user from 4chan updated his fic stating, "this is what losers read"

then he died

hi, glad I'm getting fun reviews, they really motivated me to keep on going; there have been a few fanfic writers i noticed quitting the business cause of all the bad reviews theyre getting and im really happy to see that im doing well

of course, i don't want comments, i want reviews; if there's anything you see wrong, you're welcome to ask or point it out, and ill be more than happy to try to fix my mistakes. im only one kid after all, and i do try to fix this (since i type these notes out last and read the whole chapter before uploading it), but you guys are my audience and id like to improve

-for example, i fixed a lot of issues involving the tenses i was using so i tried to keep it all consistent

-"marisa forgot" to blast her beam up in the sky.

-tried to blend a lot of fragment sentences together and confirm who was speaking what, hopefully it's easy to read for you guys

-it was morning when they walked but i presumed it was the early noon by the time they got past the pond

stuff like that, but like usual, i tend to miss out on certain details, so that's for you guys to point out hahah

in case you're wondering, next update might come out next month or even earlier, as i have been writing out chapters ahead of time so i hope to see returning readers

thanks for being patient


	9. Chapter 8 - ashetjnystkmyetnmjrst

Once again, I'm back to hugging Marisa as tightly as I could, but I didn't feel that same rush of fear anymore...Well, I did, but it didn't feel as powerful anymore. In this case, I actually felt like I could speak properly and act somewhat like a person who was used to flying around with sixty mile winds flying at them. Or eighty-seven kilometers, depending on what system one would use.

The flight only lasted around two minutes and there wasn't much to talk about. I guess a lot was on both of our minds at the time.

"Don't worry, Alan, we're about…Seven seconds from there!" Marisa called out to me.

"That was fast," I quietly mumbled back.

"Well, it's a lot easier to fly than walking but-" I could feel the sudden uprise in gravity, feeling pulled upward like this weird vertigo. In the end, I couldn't hear Marisa.

"Are we here?" I asked, after coming to the conclusion that we had stopped.

"Sure. Just gotta walk up the steps."

"Again?" I sighed.

"No, we're all the way up," Marisa said, causing some chuckles to be made in front of me. It looked like she wasn't lying. "Say hi to uhh...Suwako What's-Her-Face and Kanako The-Ugly-One."

I glanced upward and over Marisa's shoulder, catching sight of the two great new people themselves. Two gods with powerful abilities under their arsenal. Their history was something I didn't really take the time to dive into, but I knew a few things here and there. Despite that I knew what I was about to meet, it was still unexpected to realize that Suwako would look like a ten-year-old with a hat larger than her whole head, and Kanako looked like a towering mother of doom.

 _If she wasn't hundreds of years old, I probably would've been staring longer._

"Now that's a rude way to address a god," The towering deity said, who was sitting on the front steps of the shrine. "How would you like it if I called you Marisa Needs-to-Shut-Up?"

I took a good look at the shrine. It looked like a different version of Hakurei Shrine, only more colorful and more vibrant. While the Hakurei Shrine was clean and...Pristine, the Moriya Shrine looked more like an active shrine, given there were more people actually coming in and donating. Maybe I just had a bias for the Moriya shrine, to which I apologized to Reimu in my head. Well, technically, the Hakurei shrine was active. Active with fairies and youkai, but active nonetheless.

At the shrine, I took a good look at the people donating. The human village was far off if I was correct, so people must've really trusted in this shrine of they were willing to get this far just to have their wishes granted. Faith maketh man.

They looked shorter than I expected. Many of them looked like they were in their early thirties, and they wore clothes that were definitely _not_ from my century. They didn't stare at me strangely, though they did throw a glance my way, so I assumed they were used to Outsiders.

Marisa retorted, "Hey hey, that's no way to speak to a potential follower."

The short ex(?)-goddess was sweeping up the front platform of the shrine, which seemed to be littered a bunch with candy wrappers and other junk food. I cringed when I recognized the familiar chocolate wrappers. I was no longer a fan. She replied toward the blondie, "It's not like you actually donate or worship us anyway."

Kanako then replied, "You mean me?" Suwako and Kanako stared at each other.

It probably wasn't my place to interrupt, but I used my position as a ignorant person to ask, "Hello... " I racked my head, wondering if I was using the right terms. "Lord Kanako, Lord Suwako," I said, bowing to the both of them. It sounded right to me, and neither of them seemed to have a problem.

I thought about it and realized this would've be the first time I spoke to any god at all. I wondered if Jesus was looking down on me. It didn't feel like speaking to a god, I felt as if I was speaking to older people, like just a bunch of adults. A bunch of adults that could wipe me out. Deja vu.

"Where's Sanae?" I asked. "I heard she was fighting...Er, shooting it up in the sky."

Suwako glanced toward me and said, "Oh, she went to go change out of her uniform. You must be the new Outsider!" She dropped the broom and walked toward me. As she walked toward me, I realized she was basically half my height, maybe shorter.

She stared up at me, her hat with the googly eyes burning into my very soul. I blinked, unable to read her eyes. I wondered what she was planning, since I knew she acted as much as a child as she did a mischevious goddess. I took a look at the eyes, wondering if this was a bad time to question if they were real. Don't worry, fans of this game, I was going to find out the answers!

"Moriya Suwako, but call me whatever!" She finally introduced in her cheerful, childish tone. I had guessed she was just a friendly deity. "Nice to meet 'ya!" Marisa then went over to Kanako and began whispering some things. It was similar to the way she had been whispering to Nitori.

"Nice to meet you too, Miss- Er, Lord Suwako. I was hoping I could stay over here for the time being, maybe learn how I should live in Gensokyo."

Suwako rubbed her chin with her overly-long sleeve before saying in disappointment, "Sorry, but we've been a bit busy lately. Sanae's been pretty moody and we don't want to make her worry."

I thought about her answer briefly, but thought again to not be suspicious. I shouldn't be expecting a free house, after all. I replied, "That's fine, but do you know any place I could get myself employed and living?"

Suwako suggested, "The Human Village. They'll welcome you quite nicely, and there's a lot of jobs for you! Orrr..."

Kanako finished whispering with Marisa and then interrupted our conversation, saying, "Or Suwako could not be lazy and house the boy in exchange for some work."

"Hey, taking care of Sanae is trouble enough!" Suwako complained. "I can't feed two mouths!"

"You fed more mouths during the charity run last weekend," Marisa replied.

Suwako brought her finger up, stammering out, "Well, that was different!"

"How so?" Kanako asked.

"Well, uh, it was to promote the shrine, and you know...Dang it, Kanako, you're supposed to go along with it!" Suwako complained in a loud raspy whisper.

"Go along with what?" Marisa and I asked simultaneously.

Kanako said, "Oh, the gap youkai already told us about your arrival, so we were-" Suwako sprinted right up toward Kanako and covered her mouth, the rest of her statement being muffled.

"So we _were_ going to let you in," Suwako filled in, "but we've just been uh…Things have been soo busy!" Kanako slowly lifted Suwako's hand away from her.

"We were going to let you live here if you worked for us or for someone from the Village as long as you donate a portion of your share, but Suwako doesn't want to take care for two."

"Three, including you!" Suwako corrected, flailing her sleeve at Kanako.

"Oh, that's fine, I guess…" I said, somewhat disappointed. So much for staying by Sanae's shrine. Maybe I should've pushed further but I was the one asking here, and trying to demand something out of a bunch of gods? It would've been a bit disrespectful, and I was probably not the prime example of respect. "Well, is there anywhere else I could go to?"

Suwako and Kanako glanced at each other. "Well, there is...The Garden of the Sun," the former suggested.

Now Marisa was the one who tilted her head in confusion. I, for one, was somewhat frozen. A lot of thoughts were going through my head, mostly thoughts of whether or not they were trying to get me killed; and then conflicting thoughts that perhaps it was try to push the agenda that youkai weren't trying to kill anyone. Anymore.

"Wait, why?" Marisa asked.

"There's an small vacant house outside of the garden," Kanako began, "Which could provide a more open space, and all he would have to do is work with the youkai inside so she can provide his house provisions. If he learns to fly, he could do deliveries and get paid well, but the youkai doesn't need payment so most of his cash would be his."

"Hmm, but you know-"

"Oh come on, Yuuka's fiiine, she hasn't even killed anyone inside or out of her garden since, I dunno, a whole lot of years ago?" Suwako said.

"But...I'm human," I said.

Marisa sighed and scratched her head thoughtfully, replying, "I really don't like this idea... "

Kanako said, "Either way, she's about as passive as the powerful youkai gets. I highly doubt she'd kill anyone without a good reason to, and the boy doesn't seem like a danger to anyone in Gensokyo so there's no reason to go after him."

"I'd still be nervous around her," Marisa said. "I mean, she's a youkai. Alan's a human."

"What kind of youkai is she?" I asked.

"A flower youkai," Suwako said. I rubbed my chin. It felt clear to me that these goddesses were trying to persuade me further into Yuuka's garden rather than the village. Perhaps it was to push the whole "Youkai are safe, trust in them" agenda. The only debate was, trust the gods or trust the human?

"Alright…" I said, "I'll go to Yuuka's next."

* * *

so this was supposed to be like an april fools thing where i give you this cliff hanger and wait until next april first to upload a new chapter but im not gonna do that cause im a nice boy

wait no here's an april fools

spoilers: he doesnt go to yuukas

haha take that

the chapter's called ashetjnystkmyetnmjrst because i named the document that so look forward ot updates soon


	10. Chapter 9

Marisa sighed in reply, scratching her head. Perhaps she was worried about me, the thought which gave me some tingles of sorts.

"Splendid. You can stay here and have some lunch and head out once you're finished," Kanako said.

Marisa instantly brightened up at the word of lunch, replying, "I'll join you!"

"Wha-" Suwako began before Kanako covered her mouth.

"I don't want to hear it, you're taking care of him and her for one hour and if I hear a complaint, I'm telling Sanae about the books you've been stealing." Suwako sighed in defeat, reluctantly walking back into her shrine for who knows what.

"Who's doing what?" I heard from inside the shrine. A younger, much more teenager-esque voice, I noticed. "Oh, hi, Suwako-" I managed to piece out before it just became unintelligible conversation.

Oh right, I had nearly forgotten. "Oh, Miss Kochiya!" I called inside, 'I have a thing from uh...Miss Kawashiro!"

"Doing deliveries already?" Kanako asked.

"Nah, just a bargain," Marisa asked, causing a raised eyebrow from ye large goddess.

"OH!" I managed to piece from inside the shrine once again, "Is it my figurine?" Sanae poked her head out.

The green hair was the first and the strangest appearance to me, and I was left watching the cascade of smooth grassy hair being let down and falling just above the ground. She had her hands on the door, and her eyes glinted with excitement. She was awfully cute, and I really hated that I wanted to keep staring.

"Ah-uhm, yeah," I stammered, holding up the figurine. Marisa chuckled in amusement, and I shot a glance at her in a way that said, " _Die."_

Sanae beamed with happiness, trotting right out on the front steps, wearing a black clear t-shirt and dark-blue skinny jeans, alongside some bunny slippers. She still had the frog clip on her hair and the gohei that came along the job of a shrine maiden, though it was different from Reimu's. It didn't stop me from being reminded of my old clothes, if anything, I was still wearing them at that time.

"Yees, she finally made it!" Sanae said happily, carefully taking my figurine and holding it up to the sun. "She actually did it just right too…"

I didn't pay much attention to it until now, and I suddenly had some realization.

"That's from...Neon Genesis Evangelion, isn't it?" I asked her. She turned toward me, walking until she was inches away from me. We only looked at each other's eyes for a singular eternity, though I had to look down slightly so it actually seemed like we were. All I could smell was a hint of vanilla from her hair. God was either blessing me or I was cursing myself.

"Yes, it is!" Sanae said, looking fairly joyful. "I never thought I'd find an outsider who watched it- Oh wait, which one's your favorite?"

I didn't actually watch it. "Oh, I haven't really finished it since I got gapped, but I do like EVA-01." If heaven didn't exist, then Sanae's grin would've made it exist. She seemed so gushy that I didn't want to ruin her time.

"Oh my- Same here! Ah, geez, I can't believe someone knows about it, it's been so long since I've met a fan of it…" She proudly held the figure close to her. "I need to put this in, hold on," She chirped. Before I could even ask, she dashed to the inside of her shrine, similar to a cartoon character.

Marisa elbowed me. "Aw, someone's got a little something~" She teased.

"When I learn to fly, I'm going to slam into you," I said, smacking away the elbow.

"Hey, I need this body!" Marisa patted her stomach with both hands.

"I'll borrow it, don't worry you can have it-"

"Don't you dare say it, Alan, that's my thing!" Marisa complained, pouting.

Kanako sighed, "Alright, lovebirds, let's assume I invited you in for lunch and if you denied, I made it my personal interest to threaten one of you."

I then said, "Uh, we're not lovebirds."

"Hey, let her dream, Alan," Marisa said. wrapping her arm around me and practically pulling toward the shrine. I cleared my throat nervously, sort of suffering a heart attack now. In the end, I went along with it, since I was more-or-less being pushed into it.

Kanako stood up, and I realized again that she was _tall_. It was hard to imagine a girl a head shorter than me beating a godly basketball pole about a head taller than me, but I could only assume that's how life went. She gestured toward the inside of the shrine, allowing us to move in first. I went ahead and took off my shoes.

The inside of the shrine, unlike Hakurei Shrine, felt a little more claustrophobic, with many more shelves and drawers probably filled with manga and clothes Sanae probably brought with her. A lot of the space that I was quickly accustomed to in the less-wealthy shrine was taken up by technologies I recognized. A TV that had those backs sticking out that stood on top of a large table with cabinets underneath was the first thing I saw, which brought back memories to my own childhood. Some old consoles I vaguely remembered like the Nintendo 64 and a SEGA Genesis, then newer consoles which I couldn't quite pinpoint because they were inside/outside the drawers. Shapes of familiar sizes intrigued me and brought me back to last year.

It felt like I was in a crossover between a college dorm and the average Japanese house. I felt much more comfortable in here.

"So, Vu, I've heard that you're attempting to learn magic?" Kanako commented from behind while I was slowly taking in nostalgia.

I blinked and cleared my head, replying, "Ah-wuh- Yeah. Er, Yes, Lord Kanako." I sat down in front of the table, with Marisa by my side.

"No need for formalities, unless you'd like a wish granted. How has your experience been as of yet?"

"So far, not much as happened. I could probably make a coin shudder if you gave me thirty minutes." Marisa put her arm around me in a casual fashion.

"The potential to be a master magician right here! And most definitely not staying at a youkai that could instantly wipe him out," She added, throwing a pointed gaze at Kanako.

"Marisa, the decision is completely his to make, we're simply making suggestions for him. If I try to house him here, then Suwako will just complain until he gets removed."

"Can't I just find a different place to stay?" I asked.

"Of course. I just felt the Garden and the Human Village would've served as the best locations."

Marisa then said with a pout, "Hey, I can teach him at my place!"

"Your place? You can barely maintain a clean roof off of your friend's home, much less keep him from getting sick. Not to mention, a human like him can easily get lost in the Forest. Unless you plan on teach him about every nook and cranny for the following month."

I glanced at their conversations back and forth, a loss as to where to go at this point. Marisa replied, "Hey, it'll be fine, I'll walk him out myself! Or better yet, fly him out!"

I sighed, putting my head on the desk. "I just want to chill at this point…"

"You know, I agree," Marisa said. "I haven't eaten since yesterday, so what does Suwako have in store?"

Sanae came by and had skipped over her piles of disorganized things, popping right back into view over the opposite side of the table with a bright grin. "Marisa! 'Sup?"

"My want for some food, Sanae!" Marisa cheerfully grinned back.

Kanako and I seemed a bit a thought at the moment, and Marisa and Sanae seemed to be more focused with conversing to each other. At the time, I was more-or-less thinking about if I really made the right decision about trying to live somewhere like... _There._ In a way, it would've given me future insight as to who the woman really was. Perhaps the flower youkai that spoke of really was just a nice person...Now. From what little I knew about this universe, she was the most feared one. It made me wonder what changed.

For Kanako...I had no idea what would be on her mind. She apparently had noticed the heart-to-bigger-heart conversation the two bubbly people were giving to each other, and had moved over to my side. "Alan."

"Ah, yes, ma'am?" I said blankly.

"I imagine you have already gotten a brief introduction into how danmaku works, correct?"

"Kind of, not really," I said.

"Well, then, I'll get right on to explaining."

Explanation? I could only describe it as confusion. She had already started giving me the idea of danmaku, which was something I was aware of, but then she instantly had moved on to magic. Magic was a weird thing, and trying to comprehend it was like trying to understand physics without taking chemistry.

In the end, I sort of spaced out several times, to the point of someone calling my name.

"Alan!" I heard, sort of daydreaming on my own. I blinked again, out of my daze.

I then heard some squealing and a table falling onto the ground with a loud thud, scaring me beyond belief. I made some sort of embarrassingly frightened noise.

Kanako raised an eyebrow toward Marisa, who was just grinning. Sanae for one, was shocked and perhaps gleaming in excitement. "So he does have a talent."

"I do?" I asked.

Marisa pointed her finger at me. "Damn right! You just lifted a table up! Now if only you weren't so busy being bored and you could actually control it."

Sanae stared at both Kanako and Marisa. "Whuh- You didn't tell me he could do magic!""

Kanako rubbing her chin in thought, ignoring Sanae's question. Marisa took over and responded, "Yep! He's gonna be the new Sumireko!"

"Oho, no, I'm not," I assured Marisa, though she casually waved off my response.

Marisa put her hand on her hips, saying, "I think it would be better if he stayed at my place."

"Woah, but what if I die?" I asked.

Sanae interrupted, "Oh, please, the Forest isn't that dangerous, Marisa used to wander around there when she was a kid. Now, _I_ can do a super job honing your magic!"

"How'd you know that?" Marisa said, raising an eyebrow at Sanae. "And ya' barely walk there, so how would you know what's in it?"

"It's called, 'asking Reimu about her friends,' or you know. 'Conversation!' I know you're not fond of social living, so-"

"You wanna go?" Marisa teased, elbowing Sanae. "How about we duel it out right now? Winner has to take him to their new home."

"Oho, you're on! Two cards," Sanae challenged.

"Five!"

"...Three, I have a doctor's appointment later..."

"Better hope you win quick then, cause' I ain't backing down!" Marisa said smugly. I watched the both of them with confusion.

"Why am I being gambled on?" I asked with a sigh.

"Both choices would do you well, I imagine," Kanako commented. "Though, try not to spend too much time dueling it out- Actually, one of you should keep Alan by you so he can have the experience."

Sanae blinked. "But he'll handicap us. No offense."

"Yeah!" I said.

"Do you want to try danmaku or not?" Kanako asked me. "If you'd rather be just a regular Human in the village with an ordinary job until you return back to the Outside instead of taking the risk of becoming a duelist and still being able to decide to go to the outside, then that's your decision."

I sighed, scratching my head in thought. Eventually, I said. "...Sure...I'll go, I guess…"

Marisa then grabbed my hand and said, "Settled! Let's go, Alan, trust me, you're gonna love the ride." No, I wasn't.

Sanae happily ran back to the depths of her shrine, calling out, "Hold on, lemme get my out- er, uniform!" I sighed ,again, with a slight amount of worry.

* * *

i know some of yall wanted some character development but don't worry there's probably going to be some when they fite club it out

rule number one of danmaku: scream out your spell cards like youre retarded

continue limit is just how much longer their voices can last before they're unable to scream out "REMATCH REEE" again

unfortunately, i did not check this thoroughly for grammar errors, so forgib me

"get in the robot, nitori" says sanae in her free time to herself


	11. Chapter 10

I was back up in the air, now shivering from the cold from my height as well as extremely scared for my own wellbeing. I had my Zapper, but I could barely call myself ready to shoot them. Well...Danmaku was nonlethal, right?

Yeah. I told myself that. Then Marisa casually read my mind or something and interrupted, "Yep, as long as it doesn't hit your clothes."

"It rips clothing?!" I exclaimed. "I don't know if you know this, but we are _really_ high up and I'm cold as all hell!"

"Hey, Hell's not _that_ cold. You get used to it!" I didn't believe Marisa's words as I saw her own teeth chattering too. "U-uh...Yeah, maybe we should've gotten some sweaters beforehand. Hey, how about a spell to warm us up?"

"You're not going to burn us alive, aren't you?"

I then heard Sanae call out, "Heeeeey! Are we going?!"

Marisa responded by holding up a finger in the air at her. _One minute_ , I guessed.

"Okaay...So I'm gonna show you how danmaku works, alright? Usually, you have something of a projectile, like this-" Marisa swung her hand forward and to the ground, a yellow star flying off in that general direction. It burst into tinier stars before just dissipating.

"Not...Exactly the fastest thing ever."

"Oho, don't worry, things will get much faster. So if you want, you can help me by firing a couple of bullets with your Zappers over there, but Reimu might get a little upset."

"What about Sanae?"

"She barely remembers the rules, so whatever."

"Okay…" I shot a bunch of bullets down to the ground with the Zapper, ensuring that they were actually working. "What if I do magic?"

Marisa shrugged. "I dunno, just like...Say a spell card, you'll figure it out." I thought back, " _No, I won't."_

Sanae threw up a paper talisman in the air, the paper slowly diving downward. "There's our countdown," Marisa said, "Better hang on!"

I hugged Marisa's waist with one hand, and held my gun with the other. "This is not going to be like shooters…" I mumbled under my breath, my grasp on the gun shaky.

I closed my eyes and braced for impact, feeling every hair on the back of neck standing on edge like I was a porcupine. The wind prickled my skin like cold daggers, and for the moment I had felt Marisa was feeling the same thing as I could feel her shaky waist.

I'm not a pervert, I swear.

Instantly, I was pushed forward by the speeding brush of wind and movement, my legs hanging limply outward as my mouth closed shut and my hands tightened around the witch. The game—well, the duel—was on.

The wind blasted so far against my eyes that I forced them shut because of the stinging pain. Eventually, I heard sounds and realized that the sounds of bullets were much louder when one was in the air. I then felt a slap against my forehead, some tingly feelings sliding around my brain like something had wormed in.

Dear God, it was so weird, I didn't even want to think about it anymore.

 _Hiya!_ I heard. Marisa's voice?

 _Yeah. Hiya._

I slowly opened my eyes, my head tightly against Marisa's back. I could feel the both of us turning around like I was on the back of a jet. I wouldn't know what that felt like in real life, but that was the best way I imagined it. I saw the appearance of hundreds of purple talismans and stars whizzing past us in an audibly-retro fashion. It was like watching a huge 8-bit game fly past my ears. It was terrifying, anxiety-causing, and invigorating.

 _HOW ARE YOU SO CALM?!_ I angrily thought back.

 _Hey, chill out! It's a fun duel, eh?_

 _If you fling me off-_

The broom suddenly turned around, curving a pathway through solid walls of danmaku, the bullets just barely going past Marisa's body and my arms. My heart rate was increasing to no end.

 _Woawah- Don't worry a thing! Here's a little show to get you started!_

 _You're gonna kill me!_

 _Hey, that's not the point of danmaku!_

She turned her head around, shooting a bright grin toward me. I barely saw it and I just thought back,

 _Might wanna pay attention to the SKY there!_

 _I'm specialized!_ She pulled out her recognizable mini-Hakkero, a beast of an item of which I knew, its slots glinting with a mixture of bright rainbows.

I then heard her think, _Oh crap, she's doing it first- NEVER MIND!_

I didn't have time to think of a reply before I could see the silhouette of Sanae before an _extremely_ brief moment. Suddenly, I saw two large stars.

Then I saw ten. I didn't even know what happened, but our speed picked up and we were flying faster than I thought I could handle. I could see blooms of bullets, scattering across the atmosphere and glittering the clouds with their presence. Their presence coming closer to us, that is.

 _Hold on!_

 _NO, I'VE BEEN HANGING FREE!_

We whizzed through the sky as I held back my screams and Marisa was happily cheering as she flew past the bullets. Bullets that were appearing so often, I thought we were in a firefight at a Hollywood movie. I heard explosions and I could feel the tension that Marisa had. I was probably tense too, but I didn't care.

I felt a little jolt, and I could just barely hear a soft yelp from all the loud winds and whizzing bullets.

 _I got hit!_

 _You did?_

 _Yeah. Spellcard!_

"Black Magic!" I could faintly hear from Marisa. "Event Horizon!"

A barrier of bright rainbow stars formed around us before I could see spirals and swirls of stars spinning outward around us. I didn't even realize I had my eyes open during the time, unblinking and just watching in awe. It was really a rare sight to be up in the sky and watching this.

 _How are you able to see her?!_

She just kind of kept flying, her thoughts being all scattered.

 _Gut feeling!_ I eventually heard.

 _Magic?_

 _Uh...I just guess, usually!_

I didn't even have time to think about the logic of that, because we were flying in the air at God-knows-what speed in the middle of the sky where if I fell, I'd splatter like a water balloon. Marisa continued on flying, clearly trying to get closer to our opponent. I saw more bullets fly past our own barrier, obviously being Sanae's talismans and blue/red danmaku.

 _They can fly through it?_

 _Nah, they can hit each other sometimes, but that's really rare._

Marisa continued on moving, changing the location of her patterned danmaku.

 _Uh-oh._

 _What?_

 _She got hit. OH, JEEZ, I HATE THIS-_ As her voice was faintly dimming away, I could hear the sound beyond any of the danmaku. If bullets had one sound, I was hearing millions of it splitting apart. In the bright blue sky was covered by the blue and red of Sanae's danmaku, dividing into walls which divided into more walls. It was a huge methodical storm whizzing past us, Marisa instantly accelerating and flying away from the danmaku.

 _I was not ready!_ She thought.

I could feel the panic in her movements, the broom zigzagging randomly in an attempt to avoid the nearest danmaku. I closed my eyes tightly, struggling to think about how to help. Marisa instantly came to a full stop and I braced for impact as I hoped desperately that we weren't hit.

 _Dude, you stopped it. Or something stopped it!_

 _...Whuh?_

I opened my eyes and looked over Marisa's shoulders. She wasn't wrong; the wall was completely frozen in place in front of us. The danmaku slowly turned into a soft sunset-orange as it moved around with my eyes.

 _I've got it!_ I cheered happily, moving them around like they were toys.

 _You did?! How-_ _AHHH, NO TIME!_ The danmaku dissipated as the broom flew off again to avoid the walls once more.

 _You've got magic, help me out!_ Marisa said as we shot through the sky, the walls of danmaku chasing after us.

 _Another spell card!_ Marisa followed up instinctively, withdrawing her mini-hakkero like one would a gun, and yelling out, "Love Sign! Master Spaark!"

A thin white translucent beam shot into the air. In a blaring "BWOOOOOOOO", I was blinded temporarily by a huge white beam that could devour us in our entirety. I held my hand out, which still held the Zapper, and grit my teeth.

As I stared at the beam, I could see a twinge of orange before I saw one noticeable difference. The beam had curved. It was an extremely slight curve, but it was a visible image that even Marisa somehow noticed.

 _Alright, Alan! Let's do this again! Aim to my right this time!_

Marisa extracted something out of her pockets and poured it into her mini-Hakkero. Fuel, I had assumed.

I tightened my fist. _Okaay, don't expect results!_

 _Either way, we're training you now!_

Marisa's mini-hakkero shined a bright rainbow glow before she pointed it back into the sky, stars buzzing around us like flies. I was getting so used to the sound that it was becoming muffled and all I could focus on was the anticipation of her beam.

The beam shot into the sky again, piercing through the clouds. I tightened my fist and focused again.

 _C'mon, Alan, curve it!_

 _Heheh- That's what she said._ The beam slowly moved to the right, flairs of orange bursting out of the beam as it began to move. _Why...is it orange?_ I thought, barely able to focus properly.

 _I dunno, pervert, it could be from staring at my danmaku, who cares, just move it! Sharp left!_

I gripped my fist tighter than I thought I could, my nails driving into my palm as the beam shot from the right down to a diagonal left, the beam flexibly bending to the upper left.

 _Did we get her?_ I asked Marisa in my head. The danmaku had stopped, to which Marisa followed through and stopped her own danmaku from firing.

 _Uh, I think._

Sanae was still in the air, looking at an object of sorts.

 _...A phone?_

 _Well, danmaku can't harm phones._

We waited before Sanae eventually lifted up her gohei. One more spell card. Marisa and I tensed up. I blinked before firing my Zapper below us. A single bullet shot out of the barrel, colored in red. I locked my thoughts and gaze to it.

I saw a flair of orange lighting up in the space of my thoughts, and I grasped it. The whole bullet turned orange like a light, and I moved it along with my eyes.

"Come on…" I mumbled, watching the bullet flying further away from my vision. I had assumed Sanae had closed her eyes. The bullet was like a guided missile, and I was leading it.

It was exciting stuff!

Sanae fell back, and the bullet dissipated. I suddenly realized Marisa was staring at me with the brightest grin on her face.

"Alan, we won!" Marisa congratulated excitedly.

I responded with less equal energy. "Holy crap, we actually won...!" I sighed, leaning heavily against the witch.

"No thanks to you!" Marisa joked.

"Want me to throw you off..."

"I can fly without a broom!"

Marisa and I began repeatedly high-fiving each other, the clapping sound resonating through the air. As we flew casually through the air, I resisted the urge to throw up or pass out with increasing willpower.

Sanae came over to us with a huff and pout, and I couldn't help but think her cosplaying as the Big Bad Wolf.

"Suwako told me to get back and clean the rafters," She said with a sigh.

"...Did we still win?" I asked.

Sanae rolled her eyes, smiling at me. "Yeah, why not, we'll call it a win for you."

Another high-five from me and Marisa.

hahah first fight scene

heaven or hell

round 1

fight

ko

fatality

we win

so this is the first danmaku duel ive ever written and i think it looks super bad but hey i tried to be imaginative with it

might be a lot of mistakes, but hey i tried to draw it out earlier on loose leaf and it looks like a bunch of stick figures throwing paper at each other so you know. quality.

happy readings, because i probably did not pay any attention to mistakes because school's been distracting me


	12. extra hiatus bois

"No."

"No, come on, I seriously need you-"

"No."

"It's like three words."

Reimu stared directly at him. "No."

He replied, "Okay." He began rapidly tapping on his phone. A vibration hummed from under Reimu's outfit.

The shrine maiden extracted the phone out and quietly read out loud, "Author has tests...Wait." She narrowed her eyes at him.

He threw some finger guns her way. "Gotcha!"

She threw her gohei, hitting him directly and knocking him to the ground. He screamed out, "Ow!"

Sumireko kind of just covered the scene up.

"Um. We're a bit stressed from final exams so...Yeah."

Sumireko shrugged off her stress like it was absolutely nothing. "Like we would be _that_ stressed though, we're really smart, so we're definitely going to pass them!"

"But uhm. Just in case, we're just gonna let you know because we were kind of away for a while," Sumireko affirmed toward the story's audience. "And we might be away for a bit longer than expected because of...Other things…"

She poked her fingers together. "Just making sure you have that in mind. By the way, if I'm not in the spotlight, I'm going to-"

* * *

got a problem with tests, just build lol

final exams coming up, gotta cram up and study up before i get shut up

good luck to everyone else who may or may not have final exams


	13. Chapter 11

"So how was the duel?" Kanako asked, particularly throwing her gaze at me. I was lying my head on the table, feeling dizzier than I needed to.

"Tiring," I mumbled. Marisa casually pat my shoulder. "Where's Sanae?

"Not to worry, this happens to everyone starting out! Also, cleaning the rafters."

"Mm..."

Sanae returned back into the shrine after some time, her outfit looking contrastingly dirty compared to the white and blue pristine costume I had seen. "Suwaaako, there's no reason why I can't use magic!" She whined, rubbing the sweat off of her forehead.

It briefly reminded me of my own complaints. "I hear ya," I commented.

Then I heard the younger voice from outside. "What if you didn't have magic then, huh? It's hard labor, and you can't just easy-way your way out of it!"

Sanae sighed reluctantly, "Yes, ma'am…"

Kanako smiled slightly. "You should listen to your caring deities, Sanae."

Marisa piped in, "Yo, remember when you threw up the first time you went flying around?"

Sanae didn't look too healthy there. "At least you stopped letting me use your broom then."

"Heheh, Reimu was not happy with either of us."

I mumbled, "Does this mean I'm better than Sanae?"

"If you don't vomit your heart out, sure!" Marisa quipped.

Sanae pouted in embarrassment. "Shutup, it was a one-time-"

"Two-time-" Marisa interrupted.

Sanae continued, "Thing!" It made me wonder how Sumireko's first duel was. Already, I missed her comforting appearance.

I groaned, "I think I'm getting a headache."

"I've got a spell for that!" They both replied instantaneously, before glancing at each other. Weren't Reimu and Marisa supposed to be best friends or something?

"No, it's fine, I'm used to this," I said reluctantly with a sigh.

Kanako went over to Sanae, the deity putting her arm around Sanae's shoulder. She lifted up a grocery bag as well and offered it to us. I recognized the outline of to-go boxes inside. "Thought you'd prefer eating while walking."

Marisa snatched it without hesitance with a grin. "No problem!" She said. "Thanks!"

I added, "Thank you, Kanako."

Kanako said, "Stay safe, humans." She started walking off with Sanae by her side back toward the maze of their college dorm/shrine.

I stood up, before instantly a chunk of pain stabbed at my brain, I began rubbing my head in pain. "Oh, God, this hurts so much…"

Marisa suggested, "Let's just sit on the stairs then until we're good to go, all right?"

I happily agreed.

* * *

"You seemed surprisingly calm there, y'know," Marisa said, "For a human at least. I'd almost think you had done this before."

I sighed while my head was leaning forward to the step below me. "I've flown a biplane but that was sort of…"

"Hehe, different?" Marisa replied.

"...Yeah. I mean...I wasn't the best flier, but it felt nice knowing I could be up in the air, with someone else." As we spoke, I glanced occasionally at Marisa, who gazed back with a curious pair of golden sunrises that I couldn't really look away from. The only reason I did was because they were so bright that it was making my head ache even further.

"You know, in Gensokyo, flying gets so commonplace around us. You make friends with a human, ask them to meet you somewhere, and ya' start realizing that they took so long because they had to walk," She said with a chuckle.

"We usually do it by car nowadays," I informed her.

She nodded her head in agreement. "So I've heard! I know Nitori was working on one, but I've never ridden one before. How is it?"

"If you're going fast, then you're mostly being pushed back into your seat." I chuckled, "Heh- I hate driving, you know."

"You drove? Aren't you a little young for that?"

"Hey, I have a learner's permit." Instantly, my heart had stopped briefly, the topic reminding me of what had happened not too recently. My headache was only going stronger. "I...I don't really-"

"Oh- Yeah, don't...It's fine if you don't wanna talk about it," Marisa said.

"Mmm." I began shaking my looming thoughts away. "Hey, Marisa."

"Hm?"

"This seems a bit...Private with me, but...I ended off on a sour note with someone, and I was wondering if there's any internet that connects from here to the Outside World."

"Not as far as I know. You can always ask Yukari, though."

"Ugh…"

"Well, I'm sure it'll work out for you."

"Thanks. I just don't really want to leave without telling anyone where I went. It makes a pit in my stomach, you know?"

"Yeah, I get it."

Things went silent for a few minutes, my brain throbbing against my skull like something was trying to get out.

"Did the spell wear off?" I asked.

"Our little thinking thing? Yeah."

"Does that cause headaches?"

"Probably, but I haven't noticed. I'm gonna say it's 'cause of whatever magic you did. You probably wouldn't be used to it, and you used a lot of it, heh." Marisa leaned back onto the ground, staring up at the sky.

I pictured back to when I had curved her danmaku, inspecting my hand with a dazed feeling. "...How come I can do magic? It's weird being able to do this much."

"Yeah, but you still can't move a rock out of place. Yukari told me that there are rules here that work differently from Outside. I dunno, maybe magic's more common here for some reason. Yukari is the specialist to see for all of that, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to do the same magic here that I do out there."

"So...Am I special? I haven't seen a human use magic."

"Well...I'm a human. You really do start at the bottom when you start out, you know," Marisa pointed out. "Weird question, Alan, but are you a foreigner?"

"To Japan? Yeah, I'm American."

Marisa whistled lowly. "I haven't seen one in a while, I just assumed you were Japanese because of the hair."

"Mmh…We moved because we wanted to go to a better place."

"You know, it seems like a nice place to go to. It feels a lot like Gensokyo!"

"In what way?"

"I mean, it's a land of dreams! To have the freedom to become whoever you want to be? That sounds awesome! I've always wanted to go out and take my chances!"

"You know, so did I…" I mumbled drearily.

"Did? Is it not like that?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't say it is...Things haven't really been going too well."

"How so?"

"They've pretty much dug a hole for themselves. Has Sumireko told you?"

"Well, a lot of problems," Marisa said with a shrug. "I mean...It's not far off from what used to happen back then."

"Yeah...I- You know, I'm not the best person to go to for these topics. Like, I have optimism, but...It just makes me want to move away from the country, go back to someplace else. I never even liked my home."

Marisa shrugged. "Maybe it's the lesser of two evils?"

"I dunno...I'm not knees-deep in politics, I just read a bunch of articles every now and then and I don't even trust that."

"How's your headache?" She asked.

I felt at my head, feeling the dull throb. It was a rhythmic pattern of beating that faintly reminded me of music. I guessed it was drifting away now. "Um, it's somewhat gone now. Let's get going."

* * *

"So, why do you think you were saved?" Marisa asked.

I replied, "Well...Are you sure I'm not dead?"

"Ghosts normally have a transparent look to them, and usually have a scar of sorts that's supposed to mean some sort of instant kill. If you cut your head off, you could probably feel it around your neck."

I blinked. "I got into a car crash."

"Well, ya' feel and look pretty normal to me, so I guess Yukari came to the rescue."

"Was I being used as food?"

Marisa turned around, glancing wildly at me. "Whuh? Um- that wouldn't be right...I think…"

"You think?"

"Yeah, I think. Look, Gap Hag's always got a plan for every person she transports in. Maybe she saw some magic potential and thought, 'Hey, this guy would be a great potential miko!'"

"...Mikos are male." I didn't actually know if they were male or not, but I just made assumptions.

"Uh, whatever, I don't judge. Be a kannushi or something, the first male incident resolver aside from Rinnosuke. Has to clean up shrine every single hour because the shrine maiden sleeps." Marisa spun her mini-Hakkero on her fingertip idly, continuing to walk.

"Alan Vu, the greatest ESPer of all time. Shoots bullets out of a gun, an original concept that I'm sure no one has ever thought of ever," I said, glancing at my Zappers.

"Hey, an idea always starts off broad! You just gotta twist it around and narrow your road down, and soon you'll be on a pathway no one can match up with~" Marisa advised.

"...Yeah...I'll...I'll try to do that," I eventually said.

"You sound like someone who always just follows the road and hopes it goes somewhere cool."

"Well...I just easily get nervous around trying to get out of my comfort zone."

"Who doesn't?"

"I mean, everywhere is pretty much your comfort zone."

"Oh, come on," Marisa scoffed, "I built my zone myself. There's a lot of places that I haven't gone into and a lot of places I don't want to."

"Mmh…I'm scared of a lot of things…" I said. "I'm scared that I won't make it to school next year. I'm scared that if I come back, how I'm going to deal with everything that happens…" I came to a stop, pinching my eyes tightly closed. I said breathlessly, "I just don't know what to do first."

The magician sighed, her arm going around my shoulder. "Look, Alan, it's probably weird being thrown into something like this. I get it, it happens to a lot of the Outsiders. Just don't worry, 'cause worrying doesn't help you. Give yourself some time, y'know? Keine does schooling here too, and she talks about things I barely understand, and I see her tutoring that psychic girl sometimes."

Marisa continued, "Look, even if you're alone, you've got guys like me, Reimu, and probably some nice youkai too who are willing to help you. I mean, it gives youkai a huge boost in belief, so it keeps them alive."

"...Right," I said.

"Pretty soon, you won't be worrying about school, even though that probably takes some getting used to. I mean, I used to run a store with my family, and now here I am, doing magic things with magic people. So you've got a lot of potential running around ya'. You're free to do what you want, since a lot of stuff that you're looking for can be found right here. If there isn't...Well, ask Yukari. So what do ya' want?"

I thought hesitantly. It was times like these where despite having so many older sisters, it felt like Marisa was the only one who understood. Maybe that was just my mindset, or maybe that's just what she said to everyone. I didn't know what I wanted. Did I want to pursue my self-proclaimed dream in the Outside World? Did I want to take this opportunity to find a possibly more exciting dream in Gensokyo?

Who did I want to become? Where do I want to go? And why?

I never answered any of those questions, hoping the use of magic or even some meditation of some sort would help me out. "Let's learn some magic, I guess…"

She sighed. "Don't worry, I'll walk you through it pretty patiently. There's some villagers out there that can't really go any further past their limit, but they still use what they have! You need to see the yakitori stands during the festivals, they go all out."

"Maybe if I stay long enough," I said, softly smiling.

* * *

We made it to the forest, and I began to realize why it was called the Forest of Magic after being there for about ten minutes.

"Holy- Why are all the trees so distorted?" I asked, my headache returning.

"Forest of Magic," Marisa replied, whistling as she trudged along a well-maintained path. It looked like something she would do.

"Why are all of the bushes like...Curvy!? Feels like the air is pushing me around and stuff!"

"Forest of Magic."

"Why is there mushrooms growing on that branch?"

"There's a lot of shade on that branch and when it rains, there's a lot of water that falls from that bigger tree, y'see?" Marisa said, pointing upward. "It's kind of cold up there, but it's not high enough for lack of air so you know. Perfect condition for mushrooms right there."

"Oh…"

"This is so weird, I'm so used to forests being like…"

"Uptight trees and strict bushes?" Marisa asked, smirking in amusement at me.

"Yeah? I don't know! Trees aren't supposed to look like they're about to eat me!"

"Hey, he who knows no fear knows no courage."

"Can I get courage from tackling you?!"

"Only if you don't think about it- Alright, here's the house!"

I glanced over at Marisa's shoulder, realizing the house was...Messy. Quite honestly, it looked a lot like one of those middle-class houses one would see in a regular neighborhood, only it was disheveled with brush and green all along the walls aside from the windows. Black roof, lightly-dark beige walls, white windows, it was basically like looking at a house from my neighborhood.

I gagged slightly.

"Eheh...I don't really clean up the outside that much," Marisa said, slightly apologetic. "Trust me, the inside a lot better."

"Well, it's fine," I lied, "I'll have to get used to living like this, you know?"

"Mmhm." Marisa did the honors and unlocked the door. "What's funny is that I always barge into Alice's house and just break her door just to say hi, and she never does it to my door."

"Guess she doesn't really want to bother?"

"Eh. That's why I usually rebuild her door for her." She didn't say anything else, opening it and walking inside. I followed.

I was more-or-less surprised with how much the inside didn't really look like much of a house. While I had been expecting at least something along the lines of a living room, most of her space was either small interior farms, stacks of books lined neatly against the wall, tables for what I assumed was alchemy of sorts, and a kitchen. There was probably a bedroom somewhere in the house.

It was more organized that I expected, but it wasn't as clean as I expected. I started by taking off my shoes, wondering where exactly led to what...And perhaps pondering what to do next.

"Want something to eat?" Marisa offered, holding up the bag. Well...I had time.

* * *

"...You know, that's why you can't pick a fight with Rumia these days! You just tell her a really neat story, and she'll just spout it off in random interpretations," Marisa said, biting into some mochi.

"But can't you just challenge her to a danmaku duel and get it over with?"

"And risk losing my spoils? Hahah, no way. I got priorities, Alan, and while a fight is all good and fun, I wanna make sure my stuff is nice and clean, y'know?"

"Well, I could just give her a nice story?"

"Oho yeah, you should! Once you learn to fly, we'll be partners, you can distract the first fairies we see with an epic or something."

"Probably," I said with a shrug, biting into the last piece of mochi that I had. It tasted like cookies and creme.

Marisa yawned, "Don't worry about that alchemy stuff, I'm pretty filled up with potions, so as long as you don't touch anything sitting on the table, you'll be good. When do you wanna start magic?"

"Start magic? Didn't I-"

"I mean like training, ya' numbskull."

"Oh. Well...Maybe tomorrow?"

She shrugged. "Alright. Feel free to head to sleep whenever you want. I got stuff to do, so uhm...Don't touch the books, they're organized that way. Um...Don't look into my dresser, I have some important explosives in there." What?! "Bathroom is over...There," She pointed in some random direction of the house. I guessed I'd have to find it for myself, but maybe before I blow up on accident.

"Aaaand...Don't touch that cabinet." She pointed at a corner of the kitchen, showing a large cabinet filled with strange bottles and vials, alongside some jars that held various flowers and mushrooms that were unfamiliar to me. She opened the door again, adjusting her hat. "I'll seeya in a bit! I'll wake you up early!"

"Okay…" I said, watching her fly off on her broom with a high-whistling sound. Some wind pushed out into the house, but nothing fell or shattered.

I spent the time exploring in the house, interested to see further inside. Considering who she was and the fact that it was never shown what the inside really looked like, I wanted to check out what exactly she did to it.

Some things surprised me, like the fact that she does have a legitimate bathroom with a legitimate shower and bathtub. I guessed I was thinking that Gensokyo took place in a much older era.

A knock on the door scared me from my thoughts. I instinctively yelled out, "Who's there?!" Not really demanding, just more of a surprised screech.

"It's Sumireko, the supreme danmaku ruler of all time," The voice said nonchalantly from behind the door.

I went to the door, greeted with the appearance of Sumireko. Same pigtails, same edgy cloak, same outfit. I greeted, "Yo. It's been a while."

"It's been like a day," She said with a raised eyebrow. "Did you really miss me?"

"You're the only person that isn't from Gensokyo that I've spoken to since I got here, so yeah, I kind of did," I said.

"Heheh, I'll give you a phone next time so you can talk to me," She happily assured. "So, how's life been?"

"Pretty good, I guess." I started to wonder about her personality. If I was correct, did she not consider a lot of people below her? "What about you?"

"Oh, I nearly made it top of my exam scores, so I am pretty happy."

"Eh. I cheated on my exams," I said awkwardly. "And I got caught."

Sumireko giggled in amusement. "Hahah. What was going to happen?"

"Suspension and uh...Detention, I guess."

"Really? We don't have that kind of thing. What is that?"

"You uhm...Stay in school after it ends and...You stay in a certain part of a school for a long period of time," I said, shrugging.

"Sounds...Like torture?" Sumireko said in confusion, already doing the honor of coming inside. She sat in front of the table in the kitchen, and I joined adjacent to her. "I mean, we normally get yelled at, so that honestly seems better. I'd love to just sit in a classroom and do work, it helps me think, you know?"

"Suuure, but anyway...It does go on my record, so I won't really get into a better school, probably."

"Does it matter? I mean, I hardly remember what I did in the first semester. It's better just to teach myself," Sumireko said, picking at her pigtail. "Did you pass?"

"Yeah, I guess…But now I have a C in one class, so I'm kind of upset." Not that it mattered to me anymore.

"It's whatever, it doesn't even matter if you make it to the top or not," Sumireko waved off. Even out of school and home, she provided a comforting presence.

"I always heard you had a superiority complex," I said, partially lying on the first part. "You seem really chill."

"Did the villagers really complain about me so much...?" She mumbled to herself sheepishly. Fun fact, I didn't get that from the villagers, but I kept my mouth shut. "Yeah, well...Since fighting- er, dueling a lot of people in Gensokyo, I kind of realized I'm not really in any place to call myself better than anyone else," Sumireko said, taking off her glasses. "I'm not really big on turning to those pages in my book. I heard you got into your first duel and won."

"You would be right, but Marisa did all of the work."

"You got that adrenaline rush from using your powers? Probably figured out how to move something and did it really well?"

I nodded.

"Awesome! You're gonna be just like me! Can't wait to see what you can do," Sumireko said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Am I like...Improving too fast?" I asked curiously. "I mean, I managed to move Marisa's Master Spark, and I guided danmaku to hit Sanae."

Sumireko hummed in thought. "Not really. Adrenaline can do a lot to untrained abilities. You just happened to figure out what to do in the heat of the moment. I just happened to be really quick in learning how to do things, you know? It only took me a couple of days to move a rock around. I can barely throw a punch, so this…" She waved her hand, opening up a cabinet in the kitchen, "Is all I have. Right now, I guess."

Sumireko blinked, her appearance flickering in blue briefly. "Ah- Someone's waking me up from class."

"You were sleeping in class?"

"The teacher's really boring," Sumireko said with an embarrassed laugh. "I'll see you tonight, how about that?"

"It's a date," I joked.

"Not with that smell on you," Sumireko said with a smile, before disappearing instantaneously, alongside her glasses. I sighed, standing up to close the cabinet.

Guess it was time to figure out how to spend my time without a phone or music.

* * *

so uh i wanted to make this chapter a little longer, but there's only so many spaces and horizontal lines i can put in okay

i also just wanted to get this chapter out so i wouldn't be procrastinating any more

apologies for the review that actually wanted future chapters to be longer and have more substance, i'm always concerned that i might describe too much so i try to keep it short and straightforward. easy to read, that sort of deal

i tried to make the dialogue a little bit easier to tell who's saying what, but even im not sure if i did that right

can't tell if i did my character development right, i tried to plant some seeds, but i think i'm just retarded

lets hope i have enough motivation to finish this fanfic amirite hahahahahahahhahahahahahha

fuk

future chapter soon to be maaade

here's some extra words to make the chapter seem longer and actually reach over 4,000 words because i'm just so cool like that; fun fact, i actually cheated on my exam so now i owe the school a suspension and detention when i come back; lucky for me, i'm moving over the state soon, even though my cheating incident will still be remembered

rippo


	14. me roaring about how lazy i am

"WHO WANTS TO KNOW WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING?!" This guy yelled.

" _Absolutely no one_ ," Reimu said.

"I do, Alan!" Marisa said.

"NOTHING!"

"...Go do your scholarly things, you lazy bum," Marisa started pushing guy offscreen.

* * *

life's been busy i guess

so im now basically the top entrepreneur of the century, im now buying and selling stuff online

hooah

been busy with helping renovate a house

uhhh been busy doing time-wasting things like games

that's about it

so uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

im gonna get writing now


	15. Chapter 12

I kind of wished I asked for deodorant, a laptop or a phone. Literally anything to remind me I was still living in the current years would've been a heavensent. I guessed it would've made me a little spoiled in the eyes of other people. After all, I'm in a world I never imagined to be in, and somehow I could only describe my time right now as "nerve-wracking" and "bored" at the same time. I placed my zappers on the table.

Maybe I secretly wanted to be attacked? Final answer: No. I didn't.

I guessed it was just a habit to be just staring down at my phone and ignoring nifty things. I glanced further around, trying to get a nice view of my way Marisa had arranged things was the equivalent of me organizing my trash instead of throwing them away. It was organized chaos, I guess one would say.

A bang suddenly rang throughout the house and shot into my ears, startling me out of my calm wits in this all too-quiet house. For a moment, I didn't speak and just stared directly at the door. One can imagine my shock and my stopped heart.

"Ow…" I heard a voice say. I had no idea who it could've been.

"Excuse me? Marisa? I have the book you asked for..." The voice said. It was...Oldish? She sounded young, but it wasn't quite the teenager sort of speaking I expected.

"Um, I'm her friend!" I called out. "Is it okay if I just take it?"

"..."

The silence was too uncomfortable for me as all I could hear was the bang, playing over and over again in my head.

The voice replied, "Sorry, I was a little dazed from that hit...Um, yes, of course. I'm Sakuya Izayoi, the maid of the large mansion over yonder.."

I knew her and I loved her.

"Sakuya?!" I whispered sharply to myself. "Um, I'm Alan Vu, Miss Izayoi-"

"I enjoy the pleasantries of exchanging greetings, but could we do it in a tone that implies I'm inside your friend's home?"

"Oh-" I went over to the door, grumbling to myself about how I wasn't leaving a very good impression, before opening it.

"Hi," I greeted, glancing at the maid in her entirety.

Surprisingly, she wasn't wearing a French maid outfit like I remembered. In fact, she was wearing a dark-blue kimono, decorated with faint black floral patterns over the clothing. She had a red-white obi worn alongside this and even though she didn't have her usual clothes, I recognized her face, the white hair, and twin braids all too well.

Blue eyes. Remember this, Alan.

Interestingly, I was so used to knowing about her that meeting her felt so weird. It made me wonder if I knew her at some point.

"Hello," Sakuya said, bowing her head slightly. "May I come in?"

Even weirder was the fact that there wasn't a bruise to be seen on her. Maybe that was thanks to her abilities.

"Uh- Yeah, sure." I gestured her in. "I mean, I'm not sure if Marisa would want you to come in, so…"

Sakuya followed the gesture right along, just casually walking in and evading the various amounts of books on the ground. "It's nothing to worry of, I always come in when she's not around. I'm just used to knocking."

"What was that hit, then?"

Sakuya stopped briefly. "An accident...I've been trying to learn some magic recently."

"Magic? What sort of magic?" I asked, sitting at the nearest table. Why _would_ she need to learn it, anyway? She already has a pretty powerful ability. "Sorry, I don't know how to make any tea."

Sakuya eventually sat next to me at the table, pursing her lips in thought. "Well, it's mostly simple stuff. Telekinesis, fire, maybe ice…"

"How's the progress?"

"Half-decent, below half-decent, and-" Sakuya brushed off some dust off her shoulder. "Not so decent. I can't do much of any of them, and I haven't really improved since I started this past month." She held her finger out toward me and narrowed her eyes.

A lighter-like flame popped out of her finger before the maid immediately shook her finger off, blowing on her fingertip. "I usually wear gloves for the occasion."

I hummed. Fire was cool and all, but seeing it pop out of someone's fingers was more or less a magic trick already. I didn't really feel amazed, but it was cool to see someone making fire out of their fingers. "I see. So what's the book?"

For a moment, I believed she flickered. Maybe my eyes were tricking me? She held up the book in her hand, replying, "Some more information on how to enhance certain powders. It's…" Sakuya stared at me, then at my clothes.

"Are you from the Outside?" Sakuya asked curiously.

"Yep. Alice and Marisa plan to take me in, and I'll learn magic and start making a profit as the greatest incident resolver of all time."

Sakuya blinked. "Interesting motivation. Most of the Outsiders are either living life over the Surface or settling for a relaxing life in the Village. Anyway, it's for Marisa, she seems to know a lot about the plant life, and she asked for a book in particular that our librarian's been keeping tucked in. Anyway, enough about the book. What have you been interested in so far?"

Then I had a realization. I was talking to my favorite person in this whole...World! I needed to ask some questions.

"I see...So how'd you and Marisa become friends?"

The maid smiled warmly. "Well, it only takes one duel. After this first incident involving my mistress, Marisa would return more often, usually with me scolding her first for stealing the books and then offering some snacks at the time. She's a charming presence to have around, and the librarian brings some good laughs."

"So she just dueled you guys pretty often, then started chilling?"

"In a way. How did you meet Marisa?"

"Reimu's shrine. She offered to take me to Moriya Shrine to figure out some ways to adapt."

"Is that proof of your new adaptation?" Sakuya asked, gesturing to the Zappers.

"Yeah. I'm trying to learn telekinesis too, starting tomorrow."

Sakuya looked slightly perturbed before she nodded, understanding of the situation. I then continued, "What'd you do before becoming a maid?"

She hummed. At the time, I was thinking, ' _Oh my God, I'm gonna know Sakuya's backstory!'_ But...

She replied, "It's not exactly something I normally talk about, so I tend to leave those memories behind...But, I didn't particularly like talking to people at the time."

"...Like-"

"Humans, yes. It had to do with my powers and such...Nothing of good memory or interest, I can tell you."

Well, I tried. I then asked, "So...What changed? I mean, you seem like a nice person."

"Thank you, but...It was mostly the gatekeeper that encouraged me to talk to others. It's difficult talking to people though. I never really know what to say, and I guess that's mostly my own fault. Back then, I'd probably just drop the package at the front door and not even come inside. As for becoming a maid, actually- er- my friend was the one who introduced me to the mansion."

I detected the stammering, wondering if she was either lying or trying to reminisce. The idea just seemed too general, so I decided not to believe it entirely.

"Who's the friend?"

"The gatekeeper. She's taught me a lot of things, and I have been...I'm trying to repay her for that the best I can."

"I see. Are you friends with Alice?"

"Not really, but we're not enemies. I usually duel her when I visit her house to get some stress you met any potential friends in Gensokyo?"

"Um...I think Marisa likes me." I said. In a friendly manner, obviously.

"I wouldn't be surprised. It's not often you see a person with no powers so willing to start from the bottom. How's your magic been going?"

"I nearly flew off a cliff and I bent Marisa's Master Spark in a surge of adrenaline."

"How exciting," Sakuya said in a worried tone. "Marisa hasn't been hard on you?"

"No…? I think." I found it additionally strange that Sakuya's changed enough to actually garner care for people in general. Times had really changed around here.

"I'm only asking because I've seen the way she flies and I don't know how she can stand on her broom and still do those tricks."

"I dunno, I guess I'd have to get used to it," I said with a shrug. "Can't you do the same thing?"

She chuckled, which sort of warmed me in a weird fashion. "Um- No. That's a little beyond my repertoire. I can fly around on my own and do the same tricks, but to focus your flight particularly on the broom is something only a witch could really master."

Sakuya eventually dug into her outfit, withdrawing a golden pocket-watch. It was a watch I fully recognized, and revealed in most of its glory. I couldn't see the inside, but it looked surprisingly scratched and chipped.

"Can you do magic on the watch?" I asked.

Sakuya glanced up at me with some surprised eyes, replying eventually, "W-well...I don't like to use my powers to try to fix the little things. My mistress wants me to live life as normally as I can."

"How normal would that be?" I replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Um...Not that normal," Sakuya said with a sigh. "I should get going, Mistress is waiting for me. It was nice talking to you, Vu."

"Ditto, Miss Izayoi."

"Sakuya will do," She said, bowing her head slightly toward me before standing up and walking toward the door. "Ah- Did you want to come visit sometime? Any friend of Marisa is a friend of mine, and I offer cookies and tea from time to time."

She sure was an easy person to talk to. "Sure, but I'll ask Marisa first."

"Mm, don't bother. If you ever decide to visit, tell the gatekeeper I told you to say...Hm...I guess, 'banana bread' will do."

"Alright," I replied. Sakuya bowed her head toward me, again. I responded back fairly easily before she left out the door. I leaned back against the chair, not even realizing how much I had leaned in. Well, I never got to ask her the questions I wanted to ask, but then again, where's the fun of already knowing everything a guy could about a person? Man, as I thought back to that, I just realized how creepy I was. Maybe I should stop thinking like everyone's part of a Wiki.

* * *

sorry for short chapter

trying to sneak in some foreshadowing or something

i kinda rushed even though i put so much time into thinking this out

stay tuned for another chapter where it's worse, shorter, and even more needless


	16. Chapter 13

"Hoooow's life, my trusty apprentice?" Marisa happily shouted, her voice reflecting her approaching presence with a sudden slam against the door, startling my space-staring trance. As usual, I could feel the beaming succession in her eyes and it felt like I was staring at the sun.

"You were only gone for a couple of hours, " I commented, somewhat enamored of the presence of her emotion. "Miss Izayoi came to visit."

Marisa jumped to the right conclusion. "Great, she's got my book! You know, it's a spell book, but she doesn't know since she can barely read it."

I found it weird of her to make such assumptions, but Marisa's knowledge of her relationship with Sakuya gave her a lot of perks she herself knew about. She was a smart gal, I had to admit, and I was glad to at least know her as an acquaintance. "All of Patchy's books are written in some freaky language from thousands of years ago, so sometimes I get Alice to help me decrypt it, then I write out the important parts and have her make my pages into a pamphlet, then I just hand the stuff back! I'm trying to be a little more kind-hearted, you know?'"

She flashed a confident smile, and I wondered if she was proud to be basically copying books.

"...Right," I said with the same dull stare as usual. I wasn't really used to expressing shock or any sort of "popping-out" faces.

"Don't you say anything interesting?" Marisa said, her hand bopping the top of my scalp like one's hand would knock on a door.

"Things have been a little empty for me right now," I vaguely said. In a way, I was lying. I hadn't really felt much of anything since arriving here, but now that I was trying to accustom myself to it, there was this hole that was stretching and I felt it directly in my heart, strangely yanking my breath at times. Everytime I thought, "I'm in Gensokyo now," all I could feel then was that gaping hole, and I couldn't tell if it was getting bigger.

"Ahh," Marisa said with a nod. "I get it. Well, I don't, not really, but... " She cleared her throat, eventually closing the door, perhaps as a way to think more about her answer without just standing there. She eventually sat beside me. "I'm not gonna pressure you if you're still not used to this whole thing. I mean, I wasn't, heh."

She yawned, "But uhh...If you want me to give you a tour around, I'll show you…" She waved her hand around. "just anywhere a person is allowed to go if they can beat the ever-living crap out of the top dog with colorful bullets."

I accepted the idea with some hesitance.

"Awesome! Where'd you think of going?"

"You got something to random-guess it?" I asked, glancing around the room an additional time just to see if perhaps a board or such would become visible to any naked eye.

"Suure…?" Marisa's voice droned as she stood up and worked her way around her organized chaos, opening up drawers and scouring through the contents of anything that could be pulled open.

* * *

It was a dart board and I was fairly okay with that. The kanji written on some of the areas looked more like hieroglyphics, an unreadable gibberish that had no place in the mind of my newly-learned language. It was a reminder that even if I could read and speak, I needed to get a bit higher than wherever level I was located in.

"Alrighty, so this place right here," Marisa said, pointing at one certain area of the dart board, "That's the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Sakuya works there, and I like to chill there to grab some cookies and a higher-than-some books. Flandre, the little vampire who lives in the basement, is just lovable and all, loves to hang with new guests. She's kinda weird though, and she sort of has a grudge against people now for some reason."

I maintained enough knowledge about the Scarlet Devil Mansion to be aware that it was bigger on the inside and that its mistress was...Mean? Obviously, I was no longer in that situation where I felt like I knew about the people in this universe. Flandre and Remilia, however...I wasn't sure what to think.

"Why's it so big?" I pointed out.

"Because I'm biased like that. And thiiiis spot!" She said, pointing to another part of the board with kanji I could barely read, "Is Hakurei Shrine. You've been there before. Hang out, get some tea, have Reimu kick you out, the usual."

"That one's also big."

"Because Reimu's chill with me being there. This part is Hakugyokurou!" Another region of the board's territory marked and its strange kanji decrypted. "I fly up really high, whole world flips over, and suddenly you're in a place where ghosts are passing by! The gardener teaches swordplay and makes some great rice balls. The ghost princess that lives there is pretty relaxing and sometimes she grows some real sweet watermelons."

"Why's it so small?"

Marisa pouted. "Alright, Alan, next time you question your teacher, you're gonna be questioning them from the depths of the Sanzu River."

"Sorry."

"I'm kidding. Yuyuko usually invites me to play shogi, and she's really good. I'm not a good loser, y'know?"

Marisa continued, "Finally~ This here spot!"

I stared at the other region on the dart board, where the location was written in marker. Recognizable hiragana. "Mountain?"

"Youkai Mountain! Temples like Myouren Temple, the Mausoleum, Moriya Shrine, technically the Minoriko shrine even though they don't really have a shrine...All those sorts of things, you've been to one of the shrines and stuff."

"How does that decide where you're going, though?"

"Pfft, I dunno. Half the time, I just scratch 'em all out and head to the Underworld. Aya likes to take me around the mountain in her free time, though." Marisa shrugged, an emphasis to support her first statement, in a way.

I nodded. "Okay. So I guess I'll throw the darts."

"Go right ahead~"

After some time flew right by...

"Scarlet Devil Mansion! Woo- I mean uh, alright," Marisa said, clearly beaming in her cheeriness despite the fact that she basically _rigged_ the thing. I shrugged in a neutral manner, since I really had no qualms against any of those places. If things were different around here, there'd be little reason that things would be the same around anywhere else. Maybe Flandre was the nicest person around! Or more terrifying than any living presence...But I decided optimism was the better half of the perspective spectrum.

"Alrighty, you ready for the flight of your life?" Marisa asked.

"Yeah, let's go."

"Woah! Hold on there, lemme grab my sack."

"To put things you've marked, 'To be borrowed and plagiarised?'"

"Um, no." Marisa stared at me. "...Yes. Okay, whatever, I'm gonna be out there borrowing and summarizing."

"Let's go, then."

* * *

Flight trips were still a pain in both my head and my butt, but I wasn't about to complain when I was the one who wanted to go. Something like that would make me seem spoiled, and I personally didn't want to come off as some sort of brat.

The overhead view of the mansion reminded me of the notion that these sorts of houses were _enormous_. While it wasn't as big as the mountains, the forests, or even the lake, the whole building was probably bigger than half of my neighborhood block. It held its own fancy, regal like, reminding me of Europe in the 90's with its brick walls, its fancy old gate, and the color varieties of maroon and gray.

It definitely was clean, probably cleaned more than my own house. It wasn't welcoming, but the emptiness of the area made things seem more like a ghost town. There _was_ one person, a figure at the gate in which I knew of, but not a sight to be seen around the mansion aside from multiple gardens, cut grass, and maintained roads.

"Okay, so which route do you want to take? Through the window or through the gate?"

"The gate."

"Hey, there's no harm in taking risks." Marisa flew down in a sort of reluctant sort of fashion, lowering altitude from the sky. As her broom hovered to a still, a few inches above the ground, I hopped off first before the Wicked Witch of the Kleptomaniacs.

"Oy, relax, I'm just going for some cookies," Marisa said, as if she had read my thoughts as clear as a book. We trudged along the maintained path, a road of mud and sediment that somehow managed to be smoother than any of the paths I walked in my lifetime. "Besides, I already got my quota filled."

I sighed, regretting this idea. At least I'd get some food, right? "Who makes the cookies?"

"Actually, Flandre's the one who makes 'em. Sakuya _used_ to bake the cookies, which are good, but I think they could use more sugar. Flandre's improving and I like the way she experiments, but she burns them a lot. Meiling's are _great,_ though- and stop making me hungry."

"There's no blood in them, is there?"

"Heh, I'm surprised people still have rumors like that in the Outside. Usually, no, buuut you're free to try them if you ask." Once she stopped speaking, we were met with all-towering gate, a regal and noble-looking gate painted in black with the clearcut bands of white refracted light moving alongside the bars proportionate to my eyes. The gate was connected to a large brick-wall, about another meter taller than me and forcing my gaze to tilt upward at the top. Next to the gate...

"Hiya!" Marisa greeted.

Next to the gate was the tall presence of a woman I so recognized by the red hair, with a scarlet braid and that same colored cascade that went just below her back. The Chinese apparel that she wore looked in high quality, though I wasn't sure which part of it was her actual guard outfit. Her beret had several knives stacked on top of it, each pointed in different directions and balancing perfectly on the woman's head.

"Hiya!" The woman replied with a wave. _Ah, so she's awake_ , I thought to myself.

"Is this Ho- I mean, the gatekeeper?" I asked.

"Yep! Alan, China!"

"You mean Hong Meiling," Replied back the scarlet gatekeeper with a cheerful tone. It was an old voice, toned with a sense of leadership and stoicness, yet combined with that of a gentleness. It sort of felt like talking to a guidance counselor mixed with an old dad but the voice was all woman, and I couldn't help but want to hear more of it. "But call me whatever. What's your business here?"

"Banana bread," I said.

Meiling looked at me in confusion. "Your business is banana bread?"

"Yeah...? Sakuya told me to tell you that."

Marisa whistled lowly. "They're speaking in code now, China~"

"And you can hardly throw a dart to save your life."

"Hey, I can see just fine, that 503 was an error of perception, the whole thing's rigged anyway, quit having better aim than me." Marisa crossed her arms, figuratively crossed.

Meiling chuckled, "Alright. Banana bread…" She hummed to herself in thought. "Okay! Head on in, but Alan's going to have a private meeting with Sakuya and the mistress first. If the mistress is even here."

I looked at her in some form of bewilderment. Marisa looked a little confused as well. "What if Remi isn't here?" Marisa asked. "What's the meeting all about? Last time there was a meeting, a quarter of the guest rooms were on fire."

"Wait, why am I the only one going?" I asked.

Meiling said, "The mistress and her sister like to grant a welcome to newcomers. They're vampires trying to get some more attention for things I don't really ask about. Wanna sign up to be a blood donor?"

I shook my head. "No, thanks."

"Aw. Well, let's get you in, the day's only fading."

* * *

"If the mistress isn't here, her sister will substitute," she said. "The meeting's just a little conversation about Gensokyo. Yukari's been trying to find ways to improve it, so this'll just give her some feedback."

"These flowers smell great," I commented. "I always liked talking pictures of these."

"Thanks! Why, though?" Meiling asked.

"Well, there'd be bugs and all that on the flowers, so I'd take a picture right up to the bug and title it, 'My friend observing unknown territories' or something like that."

"Heheh, that's pretty funny. You know some of the spiders that crawl over the flowers and the like?"

"Yeah?"

"I like to joke around that it's Sakuya running away from me to take care of the mistress. She gets embarrassed because of how accurate it is." Meiling smiled brightly, holding back some of her laughter.

Marisa giggled from behind me. "She's not wrong, it happens a lot with me. She'll be giving me cookies and tea, ask me about my day, then just disappear 'cause of Remilia." They both broke into some chuckles.

"What about her sister?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, she's easy to distract." Marisa said. "She loves talking about math and reading now, thanks to the teacher at the Human Village."

Meiling agreed, "Yeah, she loves to learn things so the mistress and Patchy sit around in the library finding some good spell books for her."

"Slow reader, though."

After some time, I commented, "Sakuya's trying to learn magic, isn't she?"

"Eh, she gave up," Meiling said. "She tried to dive into it, but she said she couldn't really commit to both learning magic and serving her mistress. She was told to live life a little more normally by the both of us. She probably didn't tell you, since she doesn't really like quitting."

Marisa made a disappointed noise. "Aw, boo. Alice could've helped a little bit. Anyway. How are you liking the mansion so far, Alan?"

It was somewhat difficult to describe it. Big European mansion, old brick style, boring colors. However, the whole thing looked kind of like a castle, with the addition of the big clock tower. There weren't many windows, I noticed. All of the ones I saw were tinted in a scarlet red, and most of the mansion was pretty much solid wall.

I said, "It's empty."

"Well, people visit, but there are few humans that are actually in friendly relations," Meiling said. "But I wish the mistress would advertise every once in a while! I can't keep awake when the whole day is like waiting for a ghost to pop by. And it _doesn't_ help that people fly." She shot a briefly raised eyebrow at Marisa, who only raised her hands up to initiate peace.

"Hey, it's called um...A vulnerability that I'm exposing?"

"At least the mistress doesn't really care about you coming in and out," Meiling sighed. "Plus, you even drove out the hobgoblins. I liked them! They were cute, in their own little way."

"Uh, they were spying on you, you know that?"

" _Uh,_ can't suffer anything of consequence if we don't do anything bad," Meiling retorted.

"Good point."

"Alright, Mister…" Meiling waved her finger at me, trying to figure out my name.

"Alan Vu," I replied.

"Vu, welcome to the front entrance." As Meiling said that, I discovered that the front of the mansion was larger than I expected. I swore that the door probably would still fit me if I had been a head taller or so. Also, the front door was open.

"You know, you'd do well with a locked door," Marisa commented.

"Yeah, but you blast through things," I commented with Meiling's agreement.

"Ya'll are just a bunch of arguers, aren't ya'?"

As we walked inside, I sort of lagged behind, enchanted by the expansiveness of the entire mansion and its contents, not paying attention to Marisa or the gatekeeper. It, the whole area, was organized and had so much walking space that I could've used it as a miniature track-and-field. Much of the areas were symmetrically sound with flower pots, painting and rugs aligned with each room. Most of the rooms were identified by what furniture it had, like when I saw multiple dining rooms composed of tables so large that it surpassed the average bedroom length, enough guest rooms to make a hotel, and even a huge amphitheater with a grand piano.

"Dude, it's smaller on the outside," I eventually said.

"Yep," Meiling said, glancing toward me. _Ruby red eyes._ "Alright, I have to get back at my post. Enjoy your meeting, Vu, and uh, Marisa-"

Marisa blinked. "Yis?"

"You can just _ask_ for a picture frame."

"I'm practicing," The witch commented as she reluctantly extracted the regal frame from out her hat.

"See you when you leave," Meiling commented with a wave, walking past me. She shot a brief friendly smile toward me, and I felt a bit more welcomed internally. After a while, I caught up with the witch, and she seemed to notice my attentiveness to the lights. Remilia had some _expensive_ -looking chandeliers.

"Nice lady, right?" Marisa asked, to which I nodded.

"Are you still taking the frame?"

"Nah, I was just practicing."

* * *

After tirelessly walking through hallways and staircases, I was eventually caught offguard by the appearance of multiple figures, each one dressed in a maid outfit of sorts and flying across the hallways with cleaning tools. Okay, I wasn't scared, but when the corridors, which the hallways basically were, were absolutely empty and quiet; it gave some good scares.

"Eeeeeeeep-" I hissed in startling surprise. "Are those fairies?"

Marisa yawned, "Yeah, there's a whole bunch of them. They'd make for good danmaku practice if you're up for it." Some of the fairies, few which were taller than the others, waved at Marisa in particular and which was responded in kind.

"Some of them like me," Marisa mentioned, "So I always feel bad whenever I gotta shove through them in danmaku."

"I...I see," I said with an exhale. "Man, these hallways are quiet."

"We're right near the library, so everyone is kinda silent around these parts."

"I don't even know which direction we're going in."

"I can tell you it's the right one, heheh."

* * *

"Greetings," Came the familiar voice from behind us. To my surprise, it was surprisingly happy from a person I wouldn't expect to act like such.

"Hi, Sakuya. You seem energized today," Marisa greeted with a 180 turn and a wave.

"Ah, I'd bet the whole world on it. Flandre's getting much better control over her powers, and I didn't need to buy her more toys." Sakuya politely waved toward me.

I greeted, "Hey, Sakuya."

"Vu, I see you're doing well. I've been trying to shrink the mansion these days, so if you get caught in any dead ends, just call for any of those fairies that might've passed by. Are you ready for the meeting?"

"I have to be ready?" I asked in a confused manner. _What am I readying up for, a survey?_

"Well, I mean, if you want to look around some more or check in on the library or inspect the rooms, then it's up to you. I try to improve my quality of work, so any speck of dust you see should be rightfully pointed out."

"That's pretty cool, I wish I had that sort of commitment," I tipped in. "The mansion looks really clean, so thanks."

Sakuya rubbed the back of her neck, glancing away toward the wall. "Well, it's not a large problem, I try my best."

Marisa glanced toward me. _Dude, you just made her blush,_ she conveyed to me.

I clicked some finger guns at her. _Damn right, I did._

She broke into a smile. "Well, I'll head off toooo-"

Sakuya had instantly appeared behind Marisa, pulling on the back of her collar and causing an protesting yelp from the witch. Eyes closed and face clear and smooth as day. "Not with that face, Marisa, Miss Patchouli has gotten grouchier over the week."

"Oh— Well, I'm just gonna be reading alongside her. It's gonna be-"

"A study period?" Sakuya asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oye, chill. I'm just gonna hang."

I said, "I'll just go to the meeting too while she's there. We'll meet when either of us are done, I guess."

Sakuya shrugged. "If that's what you want."

"Sweet! Lemme go," Marisa said. "Patchy and I gotta talk about...Macaroons or something."

The maid sighed, reluctantly letting go and letting Kirisame on her way.

"Good luck at the meeting!" Marisa waved toward me.

 _Thanks._ I thought. Let's hope that the mistress is fairly human-friendly.

Sakuya offered a hand toward me. "Are you ready?"

I stretched my arms out, replying, "Yeah...Let's just go."

Then we were there.

* * *

k so um it's been a while

school's been a real meme

i got a surgery operation to schedule

my algebra 2 teacher still hasnt graded the test i was absent for but made up

it's been a little stressful

however, expect a new chapter sometime in the next decade hahahah

fixed some grammar errors, mightve missed some stuff doe

yes, that ending sentence is supposed to be abrupt


	17. Chapter 14

I glanced around in a panic. "Son of-"

"Hey, watch the language, we're a family-friendly business." Came the voice of a young-sounding girl. It was the voice that resembled a child, but I could sense this sort of maturity and constriction behind it...It was similar to that of a child of royalty still trying to learn their mannerisms.

"Yes, and we entertain people of all ages," Sakuya said from behind me. She then whispered, "You should probably look directly at her."

"Ah- Sorry," I replied to the best of my honesty, glancing forward.

I was standing in a room, a room with fairly dim lighting brought by silver chandeliers and snow crystals with a hint of red from the floor interlocking with the light's contact. It was awfully hollow for a large room aside from a table about as small as a regular square table and a throne-like chair opposite to me. There was a chair next to it, a smaller version of the large throne.

 _It's literally the width of half the table,_ I thought to myself as I was glancing at the big throne. The person interviewing me was a shortie, one definitely un-deserving height-wise to be sitting in the chair. She was leaning forward, elbows on the table and hands crossed and positioned in front of her nose.

She had blonde hair fit with a beret on top, with a side ponytail exiting out under the hat tied by a purple ribbon. She wore a red dress with a vest over it, alongside a pink shirt underneath. Her wings were a black-lamppost sort of shape and reminded me of one of those horror movies where the fences would be shaped all jagged to give a sense of paranoia. While her wings were also shaped in an unorthodox fashion, they actually had enough of a consistency that I could call them wings. Under these wings were diamonds, colored in rainbow colors that glowed slightly brighter than the ceiling lights.

I remembered this girl. Although I didn't feel any sense of overwhelming pressure, I was starting to break into a cold sweat. I bowed my head without hesitance.

"Hello, Miss. I'm Alan Vu."

"Oh- Sakuya told me beforehand. 'Sup!" Flandre said, her smile poorly hidden behind her small hands and bright red eyes. Despite her hands in the way, I could see the sharp fangs in her mouth. "I'm Flandre Scarlet! You can call me Flandre!"

Sakuya stayed silent. Flandre placed her hands flat on the table, lifting herself up from the chair. Her eyes were right on me, escorted by the sheer purity of her excitement. "You should sit down, Mister Vu! How's it been?"

 _She sounds like a nice girl, but she doesn't seem like the kind of person to talk so casually._ I thought to myself. I sat down quietly. "Um... Not much…? I'm stuck here in Gensokyo, and I'm just wondering what I should do."

"Oi', that's kind of mean," Flandre said with a pout. "What if I said that Gensokyo's stuck with you? I mean, you've only been here a day or somethin'."

The informal talking weirded me out. Did Flandre always talk like that? In any case, she wasn't wrong. Things were calm and it wasn't really the turmoil I expected in this whole... Island? Whatever it was, it was peaceful and I wasn't really in any state to be in terror.

In the end, I only nodded and said, "Well, yeah…"

"I'm kidding~! Look, I've barely gone outside and some places still scare me! Sometimes, they get really frustrating too. I was super mad about having to go to Keine's for learning when Sis told me to. I liked this place, even if I was kind of stuck in the basement and the library and…" Flandre paused, collecting her thoughts. "Well, it's like 'I can go outside, yaay, but I have to stay in this one spot and nowhere else.' But after a while, you start learning how cool it is! it's a lotta fun playing with my friends, and Keine teaches us really neat things!"

Something about her words had hit me in a deeper level than I was expecting.

Sakuya was now behind Flandre's chair. She had drinks in-hand, placing a cup of tea in front of her and shooting a glance at me. _See? She's a good person._ I felt she was telling me. She set a cup on the table for me as well. I responded with a nod and a "thank you" sort of smile.

"Yeah, I get it...Well, maybe I don't. I mean, you're a vampire, aren't you? You must've lived a while in the basement."

Flandre blinked, eventually slinking back to her seat with a reluctance."Yeaah...But I learned to deal with it! There's a lot of neat books Patchy gives me!"

"Young Mistress," Sakuya said, clearing her throat as some sort of signal.

"Okaaay! Um…" She took the clipboard, flipping multiple pages, her eyes skinning through the notes. "So I already know your name…How'd you get here to Gensokyo?"

"A car crash."

"Was it just you?"

I sighed, clasping my hands together. They were sweating more than I thought they would be. "No."

Flandre glanced at my eyes before writing down on the clipboard. "Well, I hope whoever was with you is doing okay."

"I do too," I said, "Still trying to get used to it."

"Hey. You're not...Er…" Flandre looked a bit unsure, and I could almost see her delicately picking out her diction. "Are you mad at Gap Lady?"

I pursed my lips briefly about the thought. "...Is she listening?"

"Okay, I know it's bad and all to talk bad, but...I am too. I don't really like how she's handlin' this whole thing, 'cause she has this agenda to improve Gensokyo but it's probably just an excuse to take people like you here. Like, she's the one who convinced Sis to let me go outside, but I'm wondering why she'd even do that. She's trying pretty hard to make the whole place a lot more 'family-friendly.'" She put some air quotes between those last two words.

Flandre continued, "You know, we used to eat people? Yeah, Sis and I sucked people's blood! We were scary! The whole 'Boo, you've been bitten' package."

Sakuya visibly cringed and piped in, "Um, Young Mistres-"

Flandre stuck a finger over Sakuya's mouth. "Huuush- anyway, youkai are supposed to eat people, then shrine maidens exterminate them! It's a cycle of life! Trying to merge 'em like this is...Freaky! I doubt she's gonna hire people that can be on the 'youkai watch', and we can't really do things we used to do! No offense, Alan, but you probably would've been gone right now."

I didn't want to think about that.

Flandre shrugged. "I think. I don't know, I like everyone who stops by!" I highly doubted that.

"But still, what if something happens? What if I get all mad and start squeezing things till' they go _boom?_ What if someone else makes a youkai go boom? Can Reimu even, like...Stop the conflicts before it starts turning into a full riot?"

It was a weird shape of self-awareness that I hadn't asked myself about before. "Well. It's not like you're doing it now. You'll be better off being...Homeschooled or something with people you enjoy. But at the same time, you'd have to learn to deal with people you don't enjoy and prolonging that will just make more problems. It's just a job, I guess."

I saw Sakuya poke Flandre from behind her head. "Eep!" I heard her squeal. "Yeah, I guess you're right, but you're also not the first person to say that, heehee."

The vampire leaned in as best as she could, but this table was so damned long that she didn't get much closer than a few inches from my perspective. "Hey, Alan, do you wanna- EEK- OKAY!" Sakuya was softly yanking on Flandre's hair, and she gloomily slunked back to her seat. This seemed poorly-planned for a conference; maybe the vampire had never really done this before. "Okay, okay. How do ya' like it? Gensokyo."

I replied, "It has really nice views. I didn't really want check out the view out Youkai mountain, but I kind of wish I did."

"Didn't you go flying? That has nice views!"

I shifted my gaze, paying more attention to Sakuya instead. "Uh, I wasn't really the one flying or the one paying attention to where I was flying."

"Yeesh. How'd you think you got here?"

"Sakuya took me here." I paused before adding, "I guess by teleporting or something, ma'am."

 _Can't have people being suspicious if I knew too much about them. Better safe than sorry._ I thought to myself.

Flandre blinked. "Sakuya controls time, doesn't she? She doesn't actually...Eh?"

Sakuya looked slightly annoyed, but not particularly angry. I couldn't hear her voice due to her whispering, but I could tell she was mouthing the words, "Young Mistress, the whole point is not to tell them…"

"Oh! Uh, she doesn't control time!" Flandre winked.

"Okay." I thought I saw the maid smirk a little. The beauties of being so epicly charismatic were beginning to take form.

Someone would kill me if I said that out loud.

"Awesome, now that you know that...Next question! Do you think that Gensokyo, a land of youkai and people, a world where two sides had collided, could come together and merge?"

"Yeah? It's happened before," I said without hesitance. "It just depends on how it's done."

"I see!" She scribbled in the clipboard. "What do you think of Gap Lady?"

"...I...I don't want to see her as someone who didn't want to save my family but seeing myself get saved and realizing that they're dead...She's weird."

I paused, trying to garner some more thoughts out. I wanted to clarify things and not put it out of context. Flandre looked like she was listening fairly intently, a motion I had not expected from this child of a vampire. "She saved me in particular, and I don't know if she knew about my parents but even so...I'd rather be back at home and away from her. However, I can't really do anything, and I really shouldn't try."

"Okay, I'll tell her that! She doesn't scare me!" Flandre said proudly.

"Well, I mean...Maybe I'm acting too selfish."

"You know, don't overthink it. Well, you should, but you don't wanna stress yourself out. You're here now! You should get along! Meet some friends! Like me! I'll be your friend!"

I stared at her. "Yeah, I think...I'll do that, ma'am. Um…" I glanced at Sakuya, to which she shrugged. _She's nice._ Her face said.

I took that in the way any teenager probably would. _What does that mean?_

Flandre sighed, "Well, that's about all I need for questions. Want a job?"

I nodded pretty quickly. "Yeah, I've been looking for one for a while now."

"Well, you're tall, you look reliable. What makes you think you're fit?"

I glanced at Sakuya. She pointed at herself, particularly at the costume. Suddenly, I felt as if my mind had opened up.

 _Oh...I'm being offered a job as a butler._ I thought to myself.

"I'm a good listener. I follow directions. I always want to learn more. I'm committed to the job more than anything else right now."

"Well, good! You're hired."

Sakuya cut in, "He is?"

"Hey, I can make that decision myself, can't I? I'm a responsible lady!" Flandre proudly put her fist against her chest. "Besides, I want another friend to play with!"

I commented, "I don't think those two sentences go together in the way that you think it does, ma'am."

"Hey, even adults come to play every once in a while. I'm older than you, so you can't talk back like that!" She chirped. "In any case. What's with you?"

"Huh?"

"You're certainly hiding more than what you're saying, you know?" Flandre leaned in, I guessed for dramatic effect. "Like, you act really calm, but people like you would probably be overthinking their situation. You're really quiet and non-panicky about this, you know that?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't deny it."

"Just saying. If you have something to say, you have this whole mansion to talk to. We're pretty good at keeping secrets, Patchy especially. Do you read?"

"Yeah."

"Wanna read about magic?"

"Sure."

"She'll like you."

"Cool."

Sakuya just stared at Flandre. "Are you sure Mistress will be okay with this?"

"Nope! But I'll compromise with her~ I like Alan!" Her hand waved me off. "Okay, you can go wherever you just were, I'll tell Sis the news!" Flandre practically hopped off of her throne before she waltzed to the nearest doorway, pulling it open in such a grandiose manner that she looked as if the world belonged to her.

Then the door hit the wall with a loud slam, making her jolt in surprise. "Hahah, um. Sorry!" She said, glancing towards me and shooting a sheepish smile. She quickly closed the door and left.

Sakuya sighed, before approaching me. She suggested, "Would you like a tour of the rest of the mansion?"

"Not like I have a choice, do I?"

"Well, I'm sure you'll be of good use."

"Really?"

"Of course. You can't be worse than my first beginnings," She commented. I guessed I shouldn't plan to disappoint.

"Would you like to visit the library? We'll test to see if Patchouli and her familiar wouldn't mind your presence."

"Sure."

Surprisingly, we would walk.

* * *

 _"dude wtf these are just two people talking what kind of story is this, u boring af writer"_

kstopflamingmeori'llgetmydadtobanyou

okay, i dont mean to just make alan casually speak to everyone, but it's just fun for me to interact with these characters and AU them in my own special way

anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, i know it took like a billion years


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